New Covid-19 cases break 1,000 for first time since Dec 2

SINGAPORE - There were 1,165 new Covid-19 cases as at noon on Monday (Jan 17), an increase from the 863 cases reported on Sunday.

But the number of cases of the Omicron variant went down to 609, from 675 the day before, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its daily update.

It is the first time since Dec 2 that Singapore has reported more than 1,000 new daily coronavirus cases.

The new Covid-19 cases consist of 631 local cases and 534 imported ones.

Of the Omicron cases reported, 380 were local cases and 229 were imported.

The weekly infection growth rate rose to 1.6 on Monday, from 1.49 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 zero new deaths from complications linked to Covid-19 reported on Monday. The total number of fatalities in Singapore is 843.

As at Monday, Singapore has recorded a total of 293,014 cases of Covid-19.

There were 217 patients in hospital, with 13 requiring oxygen supplementation and 13 in the intensive care unit.

Ninety-one per cent of Singapore's eligible population have completed the full vaccination regimen, and 52 per cent of the population have received the vaccine booster shot.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.