• There were four new Covid-19 clusters reported on July 27
• One was linked to the Westlite Juniper Dormitory and three others were linked to individuals, including a cleaner at Punggol Primary School
• The number of Covid-19 patients who are in serious condition has gone up to 21, from 18 on Monday
• There were 139 cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, of which three were imported

SINGAPORE — Singapore on Tuesday (July 27) reported four new Covid-19 clusters, including one that has been linked to the Westlite Juniper Dormitory in Mandai. The other three clusters were traced to different individuals, including a cleaner at Punggol Primary School.

In its nightly update on the coronavirus situation here, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that there are now 39 active clusters each having between three and 902 cases.

It added that there has been an increase in the number of patients infected by the coronavirus who are in serious condition and need oxygen to help them breathe, with 21 of such cases reported on Tuesday. This is up from 18 the day before.

In addition, there are two patients who are in critical condition under intensive care.

“One among these 23 cases is fully vaccinated but requires oxygen supplementation as she has underlying medical conditions. Thirteen seniors above 60 years, of whom 12 are completely unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, have fallen very ill,” MOH said.

Of the 21 cases who require oxygen support, four are between the ages of 19 and 39, data from MOH showed.

It stressed that there is continuing evidence that vaccination helps to prevent serious disease when one gets infected.

“Over the last 28 days, 27 local cases required oxygen supplementation, were admitted to intensive care units or died. Fourteen were unvaccinated, 12 were partially vaccinated and one was fully vaccinated.” 

As of Tuesday, there are 545 Covid-19 patients who are warded in hospital.

MOH said that it is working with the People’s Association to distribute antigen rapid test kits to people who had visited selected markets and food centres in the last 14 days, for them to do self-swabs.

The collection will run on Wednesday and Thursday at the residents’ committee centres in the vicinity of Teban Gardens Market and Food Centre as well as 216 Bedok Food Centre and Market.

LATEST COVID-19 CASES

Earlier on Tuesday, MOH said that Singapore recorded 136 new locally transmitted cases of Covid-19, 36 of which were traced to the cluster at Jurong Fishery Port and another two to karaoke television (KTV) lounges and clubs.

The total number of cases linked to the Jurong Fishery Port cluster is now 902 and the total from KTV lounges is 245.

Nine cases have since been linked to the new cluster at the Westlite Juniper Dormitory. MOH did not indicate if these cases are residents at the dormitory.

Of the 136 locally transmitted cases, 55 have not been linked to previous infections..

Fifty-nine are linked to previous infections and had already been placed under quarantine.

Another 22 infections, also linked to previous cases, were detected through surveillance testing.

Among the cases are three seniors aged above 70 who are not vaccinated or partially vaccinated and at risk of serious illness.

The locally transmitted cases were among a total of 139 new Covid-19 cases confirmed on Tuesday.

The remaining three were imported and had been isolated on arrival in Singapore. Two cases were detected upon arrival and the third developed the disease during isolation.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has gone up from 642 in the week before to 967 in the past week.

“We are likely to continue to see a high number of cases in the coming days as we step up efforts to detect them to contain their spread in the community,” MOH said.

The number of cases with no links in the community has increased from 46 in the week before to 182 in the past week.

The seven-day moving average number of all linked community cases and all unlinked community cases are 112.1 and 26 respectively.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in Singapore is now 64,453.

VACCINATIONS

About 7.26 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines had been given to more than 4.25 million people as of Monday, MOH said.

Some 3.12 million people have completed the full vaccination regimen, consisting of 120,638 recovered persons who received at least one dose and more than three million who received their second dose.

In addition, 89,047 doses of Sinovac vaccines were administered as of Monday, covering 69,769 individuals.