Day: May 16, 2022

SINGAPORE – Singapore reported 2,651 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total tally to 1,242,884.

Of the new cases, 356 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, and 2,295 through ART (antigen rapid tests), according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.

Among the PCR cases, 341 were local transmissions and 15 were imported cases.

Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 2,253 local transmissions and 42 imported cases, respectively.

A total of 274 cases are currently warded in hospitals, with nine cases in intensive care units.

One death was reported from COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total death toll to 1,363, the ministry said.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

KUALA LUMPUR– Malaysia reported 2,239 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight, bringing the national total to 4,478,112, according to the health ministry.

There are three new imported cases, with 2,236 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry website showed.

Three more deaths have been reported, raising the death toll to 35,615.

The ministry reported 1,263 new recoveries, taking the total number of cured and discharged to 4,411,762.

There are 30,735 active cases, with 45 being held in intensive care and 23 in need of assisted breathing.

The country reported 23,148 vaccine doses administered yesterday and 85.4 percent of the population have received at least one dose, 82.5 percent are fully vaccinated, and 49.2 percent have received boosters.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

SINGAPORE– Singapore has detected two local COVID-19 cases infected with the BA.4 variant, and one local case infected with the BA.5 variant, according to the republic’s the Health Ministry (MOH).

“These are the first community cases confirmed to be infected with the BA.4 and BA.5 variants,” the ministry said on its website.

It noted that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has recently classified them as Variants of Concern.

MOH said the presence of BA.4 and BA.5 variants in these three cases was detected via further testing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive samples and confirmed through whole genome sequencing (WGS).

“All cases were either asymptomatic or had mild symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose and sore throat; and did not require hospitalisation. They are fully vaccinated, and had earlier received their booster dose,” it said.

MOH said all three cases had self-isolated upon testing positive for COVID-19 and did not have any reported exposure to vulnerable settings.

According to the ministry, BA.4 and BA.5 were first reported by South Africa in early 2022 and have since become the dominant variants there.

Both lineages contain mutations in the spike protein which appear to confer greater immune escape properties and higher transmissibility compared to the BA.1 and BA.2 causing the Omicron wave earlier this year, it said.

However, emerging real-world evidence from other countries supports that BA.4 and BA.5 infections will likely give rise to similar clinical outcomes, compared to previous Omicron lineages, it said.

Citing the The World Health Organisation (WHO), the ministry said at least 1,000 cases of BA.4 and BA.5 have been reported in at least 16 countries as of May 11, 2022.

“We will step up local surveillance efforts and continue monitoring the spread of BA.4 and BA.5 in Singapore,” said the ministry.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

JAKARTA– Fifteen people were killed and 16 others injured, in a bus crash in East Java province of western Indonesia today, a doctor and an official said.

The incident took place at a toll road in Mojokerto district, this morning, I Wayan Suyatna, head of operation affairs of the search and rescue office in the province, said.

The bus hit a variable-message-sign pole, located on the side of the road, said Wayan.

“Probably the driver was very tired, so he could not control the vehicle,” he said. The police will carry out an investigation to find out precisely the cause of the incident.

Muhammad Bayu S.D., doctor in charge at the emergency unit of Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital, said, “Thirteen bodies are here, one in Citra Medika hospital and another is in Basoeni hospital.”

For the injured, they are being treated in Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo hospital, Basoeni hospital, Citra Medika hospital, Emma hospital and Gatoel hospital, he said.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

KUALA LUMPUR— The number of new COVID-19 cases in Malaysia for the 19th epidemiological week (ME) this year (May 8 to May 14) increased by 119.2 per cent to 19,137 cases compared to 8,732 cases in ME18.

Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the development took COVID-19 case tally in Malaysia to 4,475,873 with 29,762 active cases currently.

He said in line with the increase in daily cases in ME 19, the average infectivity rate also showed an increase of 70.2 per cent, reaching 0.97 compared to 0.57 in ME18.

The number of recovered cases in ME19 decreased by 59.2 per cent or 30,930 cases to 12,618 cases, compared to in ME18 with cumulative recoveries now standing at 4,410,499.

“Fatalities in ME19 showed a slight increase of 3.1 percent, from 32 cases in ME18 to 33 cases, thus bringing the death toll to 35,612,” he said in a statement Monday.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 patient admissions to health facilities, public hospitals and COVID-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centres (PKRC) per 100,000 population also increased by 38 per cent in ME19 compared ME18.

“The admission of COVID-19 patients to public hospitals for every 100,000 residents has also increased by 100 percent involving all categories of patients.

“Overall, the percentage of PKRC bed usage increased by 100 per cent, non-critical bed usage was up by 18 per cent while Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed occupancy decreased by 10 per cent,” he added.

Meanwhile, three deaths due to COVID-19 were recorded on Sunday, according to the Health Ministry’s GitHub portal.

A total of 1,058,626 children aged between five and 11 years, or 29.8 per cent of their population in Malaysia have completed their vaccination as of Sunday.

According to the COVIDNOW website, a total of 1,644,027 children in the same age group, or 46.3 per cent, have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

For adolescents aged between 12 and 17, a total of 2,904,772 of them, or 93.4 per cent of their population in the country, have completed the vaccination, while 3,002,404 of them or 96.5 per cent of the population, have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

As for the adult population, a total of 16,064,239 individuals, or 68.3 per cent of their population, have received the booster dose, while 22,971,113 individuals, or 97.6 per cent, have completed two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and 23,246,597 individuals of 98.8 per cent have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Shanghai announced a gradual reopening from Monday of businesses, although it remains unclear when the millions of people still locked down in China’s economic capital will finally be allowed out of their homes.

Confronted with its worst COVID-19 outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic, China — the last major economy still closed off to the world — put the city of 25 million under heavy restrictions in early April.

The rigid strategy to root out cases at all costs has wreaked havoc on supply chains, crushed small businesses and imperiled the country’s economic goals.

For many Shanghai residents, some of whom were already confined to their homes even before April, the frustrations have included problems with food supplies, access to non-COVID medical care and spartan quarantine centers, and many are venting their anger online.

Shanghai Vice Mayor Chen Tong on Sunday announced a reopening of businesses “in stages” from May 16.

Chen, however, did not specify if he was referring to a gradual resumption of activity in the city or if it was conditional on certain health criteria.

Under China’s zero-COVID strategy, any lifting of restrictions is generally conditional on seeing no new positive cases for three days, outside of quarantine centers.

Shanghai authorities were aiming for this goal by mid-May.

Infections appear to be on the decline, with 1,369 new cases reported on Sunday in Shanghai, way down from more than 25,000 at the end of April.

In some areas of the city, however, restrictions have been tightened in recent days.

Some 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) north, residents of Beijing fear they could face a similar lockdown after more than a thousand cases were recorded in the capital since the end of April.

Beijing has repeatedly tested its residents and locked down buildings with positive cases and closed metro stations and non-essential businesses in certain neighborhoods.

In an attempt to curb the outbreak, Fangshan district in the southwest of Beijing, which has 1.3 million residents, suspended taxi services from Saturday.

Apart from a few neighborhoods which are under restrictions, the majority of Beijing’s 22 million inhabitants can still leave their homes.

But many public places are closed and residents are forced to work from home, especially in the populous Chaoyang district, where many multinationals are based.

Source: Voice of America