SINGAPORE saw the number of Covid-19 cases surge by 59% in just one week (May 10-16) with the total reaching 12,700 as a new variant, NB.1.8.1, spreads in the island state, Amarin TV and CNA said this evening (May 22).
This is a significant jump from the previous week’s total of 8,000 Covid cases.
Singapore’s Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) is monitoring the situation as the average number of daily Covid-19 hospitalisations has risen from 56 to 73 during the same period, with one case in the intensive care unit daily on average.
“As with other endemic respiratory diseases, periodic Covid-19 waves are expected throughout the year. There is no indication that the variants circulating locally are more transmissible or cause more severe disease compared to previously circulating variants,” it said.
The NB.1.8.1 variant, a descendant of the JN.1 variant, is the main Covid-19 variant circulating in Singapore, accounting for more than half of locally sequenced cases.
CDA said the current Covid-19 vaccine continues to be effective for protection against this variant and public acute hospitals are able to manage the increase in cases
The surge could be due to several factors, including waning population immunity.
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Top – An image of Covid-19 virus. Credit – Hindustan TImes
Front Page – A man receives a vaccination at a medical centre in Singapore on March 8, 2021. File photo: Reuters/Edgar Su and published by CNA
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