Update on Local COVID-19 Situation and Vaccination Progress (25 Aug 2021)

Update on vaccination progress

         As of 24 August 2021, we have administered a total of 8,619,767 doses of COVID-19 vaccines under the national vaccination programme (Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty and Moderna), covering 4,486,367 individuals, with 4,261,137 individuals having completed the full vaccination regimen.

2.      In addition, 161,563 doses of other vaccines recognised in the World Health Organization's Emergency Use Listing (WHO EUL) have been administered as of 24 August 2021, covering 85,242 individuals. In total, 78% of our population has completed their full regimen/ received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and 82% has received at least one dose.

Figure 1: Percentage of Total Population who Received At Least First Dose¹ and Completed Full Regimen² of NVP and WHO EUL Vaccines³

Figure 2: Percentage of Vaccinated Individuals who Received At Least First Dose of NVP and WHO EUL Vaccines by Age Group

Figure 3: Percentage of Individuals who Completed Full Regimen of NVP and WHO EUL Vaccines by Age Group

Condition of hospitalised cases

3.      350 cases are currently warded in hospital. There are currently 19 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation, and 7 in critical condition in the ICU. Of those who have fallen very ill, 21 are seniors above 60 years, of whom 17 are completely unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.  

4.      Case 66762, an 86 year-old male Singaporean, has passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection on 24 August 2021. His case was first reported on 28 July. He had been admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for an unrelated medical condition on 1 July, and tested negative for COVID-19 multiple times. Another test taken on 28 July came back positive for COVID-19 infection.  He had been partially vaccinated against COVID-19, and had a history of cancer, cardiomyopathy, chronic kidney disease, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia.

5.      Case 67995, a 95 year-old female Singaporean, has passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection on 25 August 2021. Her case was first reported on 9 August. She had developed symptoms on 5 August, and tested positive for COVID-19 infection on 9 August after being admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases. She had not been vaccinated against COVID-19, and had a history of Alzheimer's Disease.

6.      In total, 52 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

Figure 4: Number of Active Cases in ICU or Requiring Oxygen Supplementation

Figure 5: Deaths and Active Cases in ICU or Requiring Oxygen Supplementation, by Age Group

7.     There is continuing evidence that almost all fully-vaccinated individuals do not suffer serious disease when infected, unless if they had underlying medical conditions that made them more susceptible. Over the last 28 days, the percentage of unvaccinated who became severely ill or died is 9.2%, while that for the fully vaccinated is 1.5%.

Figure 6: Local Cases in the Last 28 Days by Vaccination Status & Severity of Condition⁴

Figure 7: Deaths and Active Cases in ICU or Requiring Oxygen Supplementation, by Vaccination Status

Locally transmitted COVID-19 cases

8.      There are 118 cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection today.

9.      26 of the cases are linked to the North Coast Lodge cluster, of whom 25 have been placed on quarantine earlier. Of the remaining 92 cases, 19 are linked to previous cases, and have already been placed on quarantine. 44 are linked to previous cases and were detected through surveillance. 29 are currently unlinked.

10.      There are 2 imported cases, who have already been placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) or isolated upon arrival in Singapore. In total, there are 120 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore today.

Figure 8: Number of Local Unlinked Cases and Linked Cases by Already Quarantined/ Detected through Surveillance⁵

Summary of trends for local cases

11.      Overall, the number of new cases in the community has increased from 316 cases in the week before to 335 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from 81 cases in the week before to 131 cases in the past week. The 7-day moving average number of all linked community cases and all unlinked community cases are 29.1 and 18.7 respectively.

Figure 9: 7 Day Moving Average Number of Community Unlinked and Linked Cases⁵

Figure 10: Local Cases in the Last 14 Days by Age Group and Vaccination Status

Summary of trends for imported cases

12.      There are a total of 2 imported cases. Of these, 1 was detected upon arrival in Singapore, while 1 developed the illness during SHN or isolation.

Figure 11: Number of Imported Cases by Detected Upon Arrival/ Detected during SHN or Isolation

Active clusters under monitoring

13.     There are no new clusters today, and 2 clusters have closed. There are currently 68 clusters, ranging between 3 and 1,155 infections.

Figure 12: Number of Active Clusters

Figure 13: List of Active Clusters

Closure of BHG Bugis Junction

14.      MOH is investigating cases of COVID-19 infection amongst individuals who work in or visited Bugis Junction. A total of 61 cases are currently linked to the cluster, with 38 new cases added today. Of the 61 cases, 51 are staff who work in Bugis Junction, of whom 46 are staff of BHG, and 10 are visitors to the mall. To break any potential chain of transmission and enable deep cleaning of the premises, the closure of BHG Bugis Junction to all members of the public will be extended for another 5 days until 30 August 2021 (inclusive).

15.      Staff who have been working in affected shops at Bugis Junction are being tested, and close contacts of confirmed cases will be quarantined. To uncover any community infection cases, we announced yesterday that we are extending free COVID-19 testing to members of the public who had visited the retail shops or used the services/ facilities at Bugis Junction between 17 August and 24 August.

Selarang Halfway House cluster

16.      10 new cases are linked to the Selarang Halfway House cluster today, with a total of 19 cases. Of these, 17 are supervisees at Selarang Halfway House, and 2 are household or workplace contacts of supervisees. All staff of Selarang Halfway House and residents of the affected block have been tested for COVID-19, and all close contacts of cases and supervisees living in the same block will be placed on quarantine.

17.      Please refer to MOH's daily Situation Report (http://www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/situation-report) for details.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH
25 AUGUST 2021

[1] Based on National Immunisation Registry data.
[2] Full regimen refers to individuals who have received both doses of the vaccine or one dose for vaccinated recovered individuals.
[3] Other vaccines recognised in the WHO EUL account for about 2% of the total population who received at least 1 dose and about 1% of total population who completed the full regimen.
[4] Fully vaccinated - more than 14 days after completing vaccination regimen (both doses of the vaccine or one dose for recovered individuals). Partially vaccinated - received 1 dose of 2-dose vaccine or COVID-positive within 14 days of completing vaccination regimen.
[5] Incorporates re-classifications of earlier reported cases.
[6] Includes new cases added today.