S’pore Records 3,155 Covid-19 Cases On 21 Jan, Nearly 50% Are Positive ART Results

Singapore Reports 3,155 New Covid-19 Cases On 21 Jan

Though the number of new Covid-19 cases in Singapore has been rising daily, the case count on Friday (21 Jan) was perhaps most staggering.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 3,155 new Covid-19 cases, a sharp rise from 1,472 the day before.

This is the first time the daily case count has exceeded 3,000 since 17 Nov 2021.

The jump is apparently due to MOH’s new style of reporting, which now includes mild cases from positive antigen rapid test (ART) results.

Cases on 21 Jan include 1,539 positive ART results

In an update yesterday (21 Jan), MOH announced that there were 3,155 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore.

Most of the cases continue to be local infections, with 361 imported. 1 patient has also succumbed to complications from the virus.

Source

Of the total cases, 1,539, which is nearly 50%, were from positive ART results which doctors assessed “to have mild symptoms and of low risk”.

23 of the 1,539 cases were imported, while the majority were local.

Before 21 Jan, MOH had left these figures out of their daily reports, which explains the significant increase in total case numbers.

Inclusion of ART result cases to reflect epidemic situation

Health Minister and Covid-19 Taskforce co-chair Ong Ye Kung explained in a press conference on Friday (21 Jan) that MOH is changing their case definition for reporting.

Since cases from positive ART results used to number in the 100 to 200 range, MOH previously left them out.

But now that such cases under Protocol 2 have risen significantly to over 1,000 cases a day, MOH has decided that it’s better to include them.

This is because they reflect the increase in mild Omicron cases and “give a better picture of the epidemic situation in Singapore”.

Minister Ong added, however, that getting the full picture will be impossible as many cases with no or mild symptoms may still go undetected.

Expect higher case numbers in time to come

In view of the imminent Omicron wave and the new reporting format, MOH is evidently bracing us to expect higher daily case numbers in time to come.

But like the way we overcame the Delta wave before, we’re hopeful that we can get through this new wave too.

We just need to play our part by adhering to the health and safety measures, to curb infections.

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Featured image by MS News.