Covid-19 cases linked to staff at bus interchange poles rise to 416, Singapore News & Top Stories

SINGAPORE – There were 26 new cases of Covid-19 linked to staff at eight bus interchanges on Saturday (September 4), bringing the total number of cases in the clusters to 416.

There were also 21 new cases of Covid-19 linked to the cluster at Changi General Hospital on Saturday, bringing its total to 36.

Three new clusters were also announced on Saturday.

A new case was linked to the new cluster of the Sembcorp Marine Tuas Boulevard Yard cluster, bringing its total to eight people.

Two new cases were added to the Radiance Student Care Center cluster in Serangoon, bringing its total to four people.

And two new cases were linked to staff at Orient Goldsmiths and Jewelers in Toa Payoh, which now has three cases.

Meanwhile, the Bugis Junction cluster has grown by six cases to 261.

There are currently 62 open clusters, ranging from three to 1,155 infections each.

There were 253 new locally transmitted cases on Saturday, and six imported cases for a total of 259 cases.

There were 116 unrelated cases – the highest number of unrelated cases to date.

The new cases bring Singapore’s total at 68,469.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community rose from 551 cases the previous week to 1,167 cases last week.

The number of unrelated cases in the community also fell from 128 cases the previous week to 470 cases last week.

There are 608 hospitalized cases. And 22 cases of serious illness requiring supplemental oxygen, including five in critical condition in intensive care.

Among those who fell very ill, 22 were people over the age of 60, of whom 12 were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

As of Friday, 81% of the population had been fully vaccinated while 83 percent received at least one dose.

Singapore’s Director of Medical Services, Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, told a press conference on Friday that while the increase in the number of cases will naturally raise concerns among the public that the Covid situation is deteriorating- 19, the increase is in fact not unexpected.

Professor Teo Yik Ying, dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore, had also previously said that the unintended consequence of vaccinating more of the population is the emergence of more of unrelated cases.

This is because a vaccinated person who is infected is likely to silently transmit the virus with mild symptoms or no symptoms.

Read the full Ministry of Health press release here.