Covid-19: Number of new Omicron cases in Singapore nearly doubles to 797 infections

SINGAPORE - The number of new cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant rose to 797 on Wednesday (Jan 12), up from 438 a day earlier, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Of these, 513 were local cases and 284 were imported, MOH said in its daily update on Wednesday.

All in, there were 882 new cases recorded — of which 486 were local and 396 were imported — which is up from 846 on Tuesday. There was also one death.

The weekly Covid-19 infection growth rate dipped slightly to 1.60 on Wednesday, from 1.71 the day before.

The weekly infection growth rate refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week, over the week before.

A figure of more than one shows that the number of new weekly Covid-19 cases is increasing.

There were 167 patients in hospital, with 13 requiring oxygen supplementation and 11 in the intensive care unit.

A total of 91 per cent of Singapore's eligible population and 87 per cent of the total population have completed the full vaccination regimen. About 48 per cent of the population has received vaccine booster shots.

As at Wednesday, Singapore had recorded 288,125 Covid-19 cases, with 839 deaths.

ALSO READ: Omicron wave is imminent and Singapore needs to be prepared for it: Ong Ye Kung

This article was first published in The Straits Times.