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Majority of S'pore's 1,615 new COVID cases, 1,185 Omicron infections are local

Staff Writer
·Editorial team
·2-min read
Crowds of people wearing protective face masks walk in Singapore's Orchard Road shopping district on Sunday, 12 December 2021. Singapore authorities reported on 15 December 2021, 2 persons with the Omincron variant of the Covid-19 virus who dined in restaurants along Orchard Road. (Photo by Joseph Nair/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Crowds of people wearing protective face masks in the Orchard Road area shopping district on 12 December, 2021, in Singapore. (PHOTO: NurPhoto via Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (18 January) confirmed 1,615 new COVID cases, an increase from 1,448 a day before.

It also confirmed 1,185 more Omicron cases among past reported infections.

Of the new cases, some 75 per cent – or 1,205 – are local while 410 are imported.

Of the additional Omicron infections, over 81 per cent – or 965 – are local while 220 are imported.

The country's total case count now stands at 296,077.

The weekly infection growth rate – or ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before – also rose to 1.96 on Wednesday, from 1.76 the day before.

There was one COVID-19 related death reported on Wednesday, bringing the total number of people who have succumbed to the disease here to 844.

A total of 686 cases were discharged, while 281 remain warded. Of those still hospitalised, 18 require oxygen supplementation, while 13 are in the intensive care unit (ICU).

The MOH did not provide Wednesday's overall ICU utilisation rate. Over the last 28 days, of the 10,282 infected individuals, 99.2 per cent had no or mild symptoms.

As of Tuesday, the total number of individuals who have completed their full regimen or received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines is 91 per cent of the eligible population.

Among the total population, 88 per cent have done so, while 90 per cent have received at least one dose, and 53 per cent have received their booster shots.

As of Saturday, more than 100,000 children aged five to 11 have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Singapore's vaccination drive for children aged five to 11 began on 27 December. The programme will be open to over 300,000 children here, who are Singaporeans, permanent residents, and long-term pass holders.

Currently, the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine is the only vaccine approved for the age group.

Singapore authorities from Monday have begun progressively administering second vaccine doses to children.

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