It’s safe to say that the Omicron variant is already becoming the dominant strain here in Singapore.
In recent weeks, Covid-19 cases have shot up exponentially. Naturally, our hospitals are filling up with Covid-19 patients too.
What’s startling perhaps is the revelation in The Straits Times (ST) report that children aged 12 and under are making up the majority of hospitalised cases.
Both KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) and the National University Hospital (NUH) have seen an increase in children’s admissions with Covid-19 and non-Covid-19-related respiratory symptoms.
Although their symptoms are less severe than those experienced by adults, ST noted that they are not mild either.
According to The Straits Times (ST), although more children are being admitted to hospitals, they are only there for treatment. Not many of them require long stays or intensive care.
Singapore’s director of medical services, Kenneth Mak, said that he is working with the hospitals to ensure that there are sufficient beds for the children.
However, the situation is compounded with an increase in the number of children with non-Covid-19-related respiratory infections who may also require hospital care.
Based on data collected locally, of the 14,380 children infected with Covid-19 in the past 4 months, 4 of them had severe infections.
These 4 children required either oxygen supplementation or ICU care.
An additional 15 children in the group also reportedly developed multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). This condition may cause a child’s immune system to overreact after a Covid-19 infection weeks later.
This represents an incident rate of 0.1 per cent, which is higher than studies reported internationally.
We hope these worrying numbers will dwindle down in the coming months.
Hopefully, as more children get their booster shots, they’ll have better protection.
For those who have yet to take up even the primary doses of the vaccine, let’s hope these statistics will encourage them to do so soon.
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Featured images adapted from Chan Chun Sing on Facebook.
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