662 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore; 2 earlier imported cases now confirmed to have Omicron variant on Monday (Dec 6)

The total number of cases in Singapore now stands at 269,873 as of Monday (Dec 7, 2021). - The Straits Times/ANN

SINGAPORE, Dec 6 (The Straits Times/ANN): A total of 662 new Covid-19 infections and four deaths were reported in Singapore on Monday (Dec 6).

This is the fourth day in a row that new virus cases have fallen below 1,000.

Meanwhile, two imported Covid-19 cases who got a positive result for the Omicron variant in preliminary tests have been confirmed to be Omicron infections, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its daily Covid-19 update on Monday.

MOH added: "The National Public Health Laboratory has completed whole genome sequencing for the cases, and has confirmed that they are infected with the Omicron variant.

"Both are fully vaccinated, and have mild symptoms of cough and scratchy throat."

MOH said the two cases were isolated upon arrival in Singapore on Dec 1, and had not interacted in the community.

Overall, the new infections comprised 638 cases in the community, 13 in migrant worker dormitories and 11 imported cases.

The intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation rate was at 48 per cent, down from 51.2 per cent on Sunday.

The Covid-19 weekly infection growth rate was at 0.64, down from 0.66 on Sunday.

This is the 24th day in a row that the growth rate has been below one.

The number refers to the ratio of community cases in the past week over the week before. A weekly infection growth rate that is consistently below one shows that the number of new weekly Covid-19 cases is falling.

The four people who died of complications linked to Covid-19 were aged between 81 and 97, said MOH.

All had various underlying medical conditions, the ministry added, without giving further details.

The latest deaths take the total number of Covid-19 fatalities in Singapore to 763.

The total number of cases in Singapore now stands at 269,873.

Over the last 28 days, 98.7 per cent of local Covid-19 cases were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, 0.8 per cent required oxygen supplementation in a general ward, 0.2 per cent were in the ICU, and 0.2 per cent died.

As at Sunday, 87 per cent of the total population have either completed the full vaccination regimen or had two shots, and 28 per cent have taken booster shots.

MOH also said in its update on the Covid-19 situation that it will no longer issue daily press statements on the Covid-19 situation anymore.

It will still post daily updates on its website but there will be no more details about the week-on-week infection ratio and the clusters.

"As the current wave of Delta infections subsides, MOH will stop issuing daily press releases on infection statistics from Dec 7, but we will continue to update the same infection statistics on the MOH website on a daily basis," said MOH.