Singapore reports 1,009 new local COVID-19 cases; large clusters at 2 more nursing homes

SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 1,009 new local COVID-19 infections as of noon on Sunday (Sep 19), comprising 919 community cases and 90 dormitory residents.

This is the second consecutive day that new local cases have topped 1,000. There were 1,004 locally transmitted infections on Saturday.

Sunday's new local cases included 321 seniors above the age of 60, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

There were also three imported cases, taking Singapore's daily tally to 1,012.

LARGE CLUSTERS

Four more large clusters were included on MOH's list on Sunday - Toa Payoh Lorong 8 Market and Food Centre, Woodlands Care Home, Windsor Convalescent Home and My Little Campus (Yishun). 

The cluster at Toa Payoh Lorong 8 Market and Food Centre has a total of 41 cases, comprising 24 staff members and 17 household contacts. All workers at the market and food centre will be tested for COVID-19, MOH said. 

The cluster at Woodlands Care Home has 12 cases, including 11 residents and one staff member. 

The Windsor Convalescent Home cluster has a total of 10 cases, comprising nine residents and one staff member. 

At preschool My Little Campus (Yishun), there are a total of 11 cases in the cluster - nine students and two staff members. 

These are among 16 large clusters MOH is monitoring. 

HOSPITALISED CASES

There were 873 patients warded in hospital, most of whom were well and under observation, said MOH.

Of these, 118 cases of serious illness required oxygen supplementation and 21 were in critical condition in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Among those who fell very ill were 116 seniors above the age of 60. 

Over the last 28 days, the percentage of local cases who were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms was 98.1 per cent.

As of Sunday, Singapore has reported a total of 77,804 COVID-19 cases and 60 deaths from the disease.

HOME-BASED LEARNING, PRESSURE IN HOSPITALS

Schools will implement home-based learning for students from Primary 1 to Primary 5, from Sep 27 until the end of the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) on Oct 6, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Saturday.

Primary 6 students will go on a "study break" before their PSLE from Sep 25 to Sep 29, similar to the arrangements for the 2020 year-end national examinations.

"This is to minimise the risk of school-based transmissions and reduce the number of students placed on Quarantine Order or Leave of Absence prior to the examination," said MOE.

The announcement came amid a rise in COVID-19 cases.

On Sunday, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that accident and emergency (A&E) departments and general wards in Singapore's hospitals were coming "under pressure", although ICU capacity was "still holding up".

This was why the Government was encouraging younger, fully vaccinated people to recover from home, admitting patients to community care facilities, and also setting up more of these facilities in the coming week, he said.

"There is no doubt that if our people had not come forward in big numbers to vaccinate ourselves, our healthcare system would have been overwhelmed by now," Mr Ong said in a Facebook post.