New weekly COVID-19 cases admitted to hospitals and ICUs highest for 2023
Pedestrians along Orchard Road on Dec 20, 2023. (Photo: TODAY/Lim Li Ting)
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- The number of new COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals in Singapore has jumped to 965 in the week of Dec 10 to 16, compared to 763 the previous week and 460 the week before
- Similarly, the number of new weekly COVID-19 cases in intensive care units has gone up to 32, up from 23 the week before and nine two weeks ago
- These are the highest numbers of new weekly hospitalisation and ICU admission for COVID-19 patients in 2023
- The figures were published by the Ministry of Health on Dec 21
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.
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The same goes for the average daily ICU cases, which rose to 13 cases from nine the previous week and four two weeks ago.
Most of the COVID-19 patients here are infected by JN.1, a sublineage of the coronavirus' Omicron subvariant BA.2.86.
Based on the available international and domestic data, there is no clear indication now that BA.2.86 or JN.1 are more transmissible or cause more severe disease than other circulating variants, MOH said last week.
To preserve Singapore’s healthcare capacity, the ministry has been working with public hospitals for contingency planning.
This includes ensuring adequate manpower and deferring of non-urgent electives (scheduled medical treatments or appointments) to maximise bed capacity for urgent cases in need of acute care.
Experts have told TODAY that the new JN.1 variant, winter conditions in the northern hemisphere and more people choosing not to wear masks have fuelled the increase in COVID-19 cases.
This article was originally published in TODAY.