Singapore: 7,109 new covid cases, one monkeypox infection

By Gurdip Singh

Singapore: Singapore reported 7,109 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Tuesday, comprising 6,393 local infections and 716 imported ones.

A monkeypox infection has also been confirmed, according to media reports.

There have been 13,78,090 coronavirus cases and 1,405 deaths in Singapore since the start of the pandemic.

Singapore has seen a 23 per cent week-on-week increase in COVID-19 community infections, largely driven by increased spread of newer Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Although the BA.2 subvariant still accounts for the bulk of Singapore's COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said the proportion of BA.4 and BA.5 infections is rising.

About 30 per cent of the corona cases in the past week were of BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, as compared to 17 per cent, 8 per cent and 3 per cent for the previous three weeks, respectively, the MOH said.

"The surge in BA.4 and BA.5 cases is likely to continue, driven by their higher transmissibility compared to BA.2," it said.

The Health Ministry said current international and local evidence shows that the severity of BA.4 and BA.5 infections is similar to that of earlier Omicron strains.

The Ministry has also confirmed one imported case of monkeypox infection in Singapore.

The patient is a 42-year-old British national who works as a flight attendant, according to a Channel News Asia report. He tested positive for monkeypox on Jun 20.

His condition is stable but has been admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). Contact tracing linked to the case is going on, it said.