News Highlights

Situation at Hospitals

1.     As of 30 November 2021, 216 cases require oxygen supplementation in the general ward, 13 are unstable and under close monitoring in the ICU to prevent further deterioration, and 65 are critically ill and intubated in the ICU. The current overall ICU utilisation rate is 58.5%.

Figure 1: Daily Adult ICU Bed Utilisation

Status of Patients

2.     Over the last 28 days, 98.7% of local infected cases were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, 0.9% required oxygen supplementation in the general ward, 0.1% were unstable and under close monitoring in the ICU to prevent further deterioration, and 0.1% had been critically ill and intubated in the ICU.

Figure 2: Local Cases in the Last 28 Days by Severity of Condition[1] 

3.     Seniors 60 years old and above, especially if unvaccinated, continue to be more adversely affected by COVID-19:

Figure 3: Patients Needing Oxygen Supplementation, ICU Care or Died[2], by Age Groups

Vaccination

4.     MOH has completed a periodic update of our population numbers. Our population has decreased slightly, as individuals who have passed on or returned to their home countries outnumbered new-borns and inflows. We have therefore adjusted our vaccinated coverage accordingly. As of 29 November 2021, the total number of individuals who have completed their full regimen/ received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines is 96% (adjusted from 94%) of the eligible population, and 86% (adjusted from 85%) of the total population.  As a percentage of total population, 87% has received at least one dose, and 26% has received their booster shots.

5.     MOH has also been paying special attention to the number of unvaccinated seniors aged 60 years and above, who are the most vulnerable if infected with COVID-19. With the adjustment of our population base, the number of unvaccinated seniors aged 60 years and above has dropped from 57,769 to 43,611. This is because the estimated total number of persons in that age group has been reduced. After subtracting the number who has been fully vaccinated, the remainder is a significantly smaller number than the previous estimate.

6.     Over the past 7 days, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who are critically ill in the ICU are at 0.5 and 4.3 per 100,000 population respectively. Over the same period, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who died are 0.1 and 0.4 per 100,000 population respectively. Among seniors aged 60 and above, the number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated cases who are critically ill in the ICU are 1.8 and 39.5 respectively. The number of fully vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated seniors who died are 0.2 and 4.5 respectively.

Figure 4: 7-Day Moving Average of Number of Deaths and Active Cases in ICU, per 100,000 Population by Vaccination Status [3]

Inflow and Outflow of Cases

7.     Over the past day, 1,399 cases were discharged, of whom 276 are seniors aged 60 years and above.

8.     As of 30 November 2021, 12pm, the Ministry of Health has detected a total of 1,239 new cases of COVID-19 infection, comprising 1,193 community cases, 24 dormitory resident cases and 22 imported cases. Amongst the community cases today are 179 seniors who are aged 60 years and above. The ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before is 0.66.

9.     8 more cases, aged between 47 and 87 years, have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection. All of them had various underlying medical conditions.

Figure 5: Number of Community Cases by Age

Figure 6: Week-on-week Infection Ratio[4]

10.     We are closely monitoring the cluster listed below, which has already been ringfenced through tracing, testing and isolation.

Figure 7: Large Clusters with New Cases

11.     Please refer to MOH’s daily Situation Report (www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/situation-report) for details.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH