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SINGAPORE, Dec 22 — The number of new Covid-19 patients admitted to hospitals jumped to 965 in the past week, up from 763 the week before that, with those admitted to intensive care units (ICU) going up from 23 to 32 in the same period.
This is the number of new weekly hospitalizations and intensive care admissions for Covid-19 patients so far this year.
By comparison, the weekly number of hospitalizations over the past week was 460, while the number of new ICU admissions was nine.
The estimated number of infection cases for the week of December 10 to 16 was also the highest recorded for the year by far, with 58,300 cases for epi week 50, up from the previous record of 56,043 cases in the preceding week.
An epidemiological week, or epi week, is a schedule of counting weeks to compare data over a duration of time.
The most recent figures were published (21 December) on the evening of the Ministry of Health’s website.
The figures show that the estimated number of cases on a seven-day rolling average has declined in recent days, from 7,730 on Dec. 17 to 6,820 the next day and then to 6,530 cases on Dec. 19.
A seven-day moving average of estimated Covid-19 figures is assumed to be more indicative of infection trends, smoothing out fluctuations through average cases over the following week.
The Ministry of Health said on its website: “Indicators of health care use, such as hospitalization and intensive care cases, sometimes lag behind the estimated weekly number of infections.
“This is due to the time taken for symptoms to develop in Covid-19 patients.”
Faced with a surge in coronavirus infections here, the Ministry of Health last week strongly suggested the public to wear a mask in crowded places even if they are not sick, announcing the structure of a second Covid-19 treatment centre located at Singapore Exhibition Hall 10 in Singapore. Changi.
It also announced that starting December 19, it will be giving daily updates on Covid-19 cases on its website to provide the latest information during this wave of infections.
Yesterday’s figures from the Ministry of Health also showed that the average number of daily hospitalizations also registered the highest so far this year. The 560 cases were up from 350 last week and 225 the week before.
The same goes for the average daily number of cases in intensive care, which rose to thirteen cases from nine last week and four a fortnight ago.
Most of the Covid-19 patients here have been infected by JN.1, a sublineage of the coronavirus’ Omicron subvariant BA.2.86.
Based on available domestic and foreign data, there are lately no transparent indications that BA. 2. 86 or JN. 1 spreads more easily or causes more severe illness than other circulating variants, the Health Ministry said last week. Ministry of Health.
To maintain Singapore’s physical capacity, the ministry has been working with public hospitals to draw up contingency plans.
This includes making sure there are enough beds and postponing non-urgent electives (medical remedies or scheduled appointments) to maximize bed capacity for urgent cases requiring acute care.
Experts said TODAY that with the new JN. 1 variant, winter conditions in the Northern Hemisphere and the increasing number of people choosing not to wear masks have fueled Covid-19 cases.