SINGAPORE: The number of new COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals in Singapore jumped to 965 in the past week, up from 763 the previous week, with those admitted to intensive care units (ICU) going up from 23 to 32 in the same period.
These are the highest numbers of new weekly hospitalisation and ICU admission for COVID-19 patients in 2023.
By comparison, the weekly hospitalisation number for the week before last was 460 while that for new ICU admission was nine.
The estimated number of COVID-19 infection cases for the week of Dec 10 to Dec 16 was also the highest recorded for the year, with 58,300 cases for epi-week 50, up from the previous record of 56,043 cases in the preceding week.
These latest figures were published on the Ministry of Health’s website on Thursday (Dec 21) evening.
The figures show that the seven-day moving average estimated daily number of cases has been dropping in recent days, decreasing from 7,730 on Dec 17 to 6,820 the following day and then 6,530 cases on Dec 19.
“Healthcare utilisation indicators such as hospitalised and ICU cases typically lag behind the estimated weekly number of infections,” said MOH on its website.
“This is due to the time taken for symptoms to develop in COVID-19 patients.”
Amid the spike in COVID-19 infections here, MOH last week strongly urged the public to wear a mask in crowded places even if they are not sick as it announced the building of a second COVID-19 treatment facility located at Singapore Expo Hall 10.
MOH also announced that starting Dec 19, it will be giving daily updates on COVID-19 cases on its website to provide the latest information during this period of surge in cases.
MOH’s figures on Thursday also show that the average daily hospitalised cases recorded are also the highest for the year. The 560 cases are up from 350 cases the previous week and 225 the week before that.
