Though Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency, that doesn’t mean it can’t still be lethal.
Singaporeans may realise we’re going through yet another Covid-19 wave, with several people around us catching the disease.
Worse still, the number of deaths from Covid-19 jumped to 54 in April, the highest number yet for this year.
Source: WHO on Twitter
All of the fatalities were aged 60 and above except one.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health (MOH), 54 people had passed away from Covid-19 in April 2023.
While 53 of them were aged 60 and above, the remaining fatality was between 12 and 59 years old.
The figure is a huge jump of 41 deaths compared with March, when 13 people passed away from Covid-19.
It’s also the highest monthly number of Covid-19 deaths so far in 2023.
Putting that into perspective, 84 people in total have passed away from Covid-19 in the first four months of the year, and more than half of these deaths occurred in April.
The increase in Covid-19 deaths comes as the number of infections continues to be high, with 20,767 cases reported in epi-week 20 (14 to 20 May).
This latest wave likely started sometime in March when the number of weekly cases exceeded 10,000 for two straight weeks.
Near the end of March, the figure doubled to a whopping 28,410 in one week.
They’ve remained consistently high since then, going above 20,000 every week except for one.
Source: MOH
Accordingly, average daily hospitalisations have also steadily increased.
Source: MOH
More alarmingly, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions shot up in the past week, possibly linked to the high number of deaths.
Source: MOH
In a press release on Monday (22 May), MOH warned of “a surge in Covid-19 cases in recent weeks”.
This has resulted in more hospitalisations in Singapore, they added.
They noted that those warded due to Covid-19 were more likely to not have updated vaccinations or received a bivalent vaccine dose.
Their hospitalisations could potentially have been prevented by vaccination, said MOH.
Thus, the ministry urged seniors aged 60 years and above and medically vulnerable persons to get an updated bivalent vaccine booster if they haven’t done so.
Worse may be coming, as the number of Covid-19 deaths in May might be higher.
That’s what infectious disease specialist Leong Hoe Nam told Shin Min Daily News, adding that seniors 60 and above are still the group with the highest risk.
He warned the public to remain vigilant against the disease, including the possibility of reinfections.
Dr Leong cited a case of a patient being reinfected with Covid-19 just three weeks after recovering from the disease.
However, doctors and experts have said that most reinfections occur about one year after the first infection.
Another doctor related that an 86-year-old man he treated had no symptoms when he was reinfected about one year after his first bout of Covid-19.
His infection was discovered only when his wife developed a fever from Covid-19 and he tested himself.
While the numbers of infections and deaths are currently rather high, Singaporeans should remain calm as the authorities haven’t released any extra precautionary information for the general public yet.
Hopefully, these statistics will serve as a reminder for Singaporeans not to take things for granted even as we live in the Covid-19-endemic phase.
Do remember to take care of yourself, so you can stay healthy and ride the wave successfully.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured adapted image by WHO on Twitter.
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