SINGAPORE - The number of Covid-19 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) continues to rise, putting hospitals under significant pressure and strain, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Tuesday (Oct 19).
There were 71 patients in the ICU, up from 67 on Monday.
MOH said there was a usual post-weekend surge in cases on Tuesday.
It said: "We will have to closely monitor cases for the next few days, to determine if this is a temporary spike or a further surge in infections."
MOH said that over the past week, it had observed a rise in activity levels, including a higher number of visitors across all malls, larger crowds in the Orchard Road area, and a slight increase in public transport ridership.
It added: "Unfortunately, the number of unvaccinated seniors above 60 years old and who have been infected has risen over the past few days, to well over 100 a day. They are at risk of falling very sick.
"The number of persons requiring ICU care continues to rise, and this has put our hospitals under significant pressure and strain."
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MOH urged everyone, especially the elderly and people with comorbidities who are more vulnerable to severe illnesses, to limit their social activities and go out only for essential activities.
MOH reported on Tuesday that seven Singaporeans, aged 57 to 90, had died from complications linked to Covid-19, taking Singapore's virus death toll to 246.
Five were men and two were women.
Three were unvaccinated, three were vaccinated and one was partially vaccinated.
All except one unvaccinated case had underlying medical conditions, MOH said without giving further details.
Tuesday was the 30th day in a row that deaths from Covid-19 were reported.
There were 3,994 new Covid-19 infections in total, comprising 3,480 new cases in the community, 501 in migrant worker dormitories and 13 imported cases.
The local cases included 567 people above 60 years old.
The total number of cases in Singapore now stands at 154,725.
Among the large clusters being closely monitored by the ministry, five had new cases.
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Four new cases were added to United Medicare Centre in Toa Payoh, bringing the size of the cluster to 132. Of these, 113 were residents, 18 were staff members and one is a household contact of a case.
MWS Christalite Methodist Home in Marsiling saw four new cases, bringing its total to 114. These include 98 residents, 15 staff members and one household contact of a case.
St Andrew’s Nursing Home in Taman Jurong had two new cases, while Bukit Batok Home for the Aged and the ECON Medicare Centre & Nursing Home in Buangkok had one new case each.
As at Tuesday, there were 16,377 patients in home recovery, 3,812 in community care facilities and 851 in Covid-19 treatment facilities.
There were 1,738 patients in hospital, with 338 patients requiring oxygen support.
So far, 84 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated and 85 per cent has received at least one dose.
A total of 604,552 individuals have received their booster shots and another 96,000 have booked their appointments.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.