By Massita Ahmad
SINGAPORE, Feb 16 (NNN-Bernama) — Singapore reported 19,420 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, of which 19,179 were local cases while the remaining 241 cases being imported ones.
The republic also reported seven fatalities, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its nightly data published on its website.
According to The Straits Times, the daily number of cases is the highest since the pandemic hit Singapore shores in January 2020.
Over the last 28 days, the data showed that 191,882 persons were infected with 99.7 per cent having no or mild symptoms. The total caseload for the republic now stands at 497,997, with 913 deaths.
Separately, MOH said to ease the pressure on the republic’s General Practitioner (GP) clinics and polyclinics, PERSONS can book an appointment at any Combined Test Centre (CTC) or Quick Test Centre (QTC) to do a supervised self-administered Antigen Rapid Test (ART) from today till March 15, 2022.
The PERSONS refer to those who test positive for COVID-19 on their self-administered ART, and have no or mild symptoms, said MOH.
“We will start with 48 centres, and ramp-up to about 205 by the end of the week. These supervised self-administered ARTs will be fully funded by the Government for these four weeks,” said the ministry.
In recent weeks MOH said GP clinics, polyclinics and hospitals have continued to report a surge in the number of patients, many with no or mild symptoms visiting to get an ART conducted by a medical professional and officially documented in the MOH’s records.
The hospitals’ Emergency Departments have similarly received many patients who are not in need of emergency medical assistance.
“These visits are not necessary, and risk compromising the standard of care for those who genuinely require medical attention,” it said.
Members of the public can book their supervised self-administered ART at https://go.gov.sg/community-ART-test.
As of Feb 14, 90 per cent of the population has completed their full regimen or received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and 64 per cent has received booster shots.
Singapore had on Feb 14 also announced that it will include the Nuvaxovid COVID-19 vaccine by Novavax in the republic’s National Vaccination Programme for use in individuals aged 18 years and above, for both COVID-19 primary and booster vaccination.
— NNN-BERNAMA