Singapore’s Ministry of Health stated that at least 56,043 cases were recorded in the week of December 3 to 9. The country has issued health advisories to its citizens and has made face mask mandatory in public places.

Coronavirus Latest Update: In a significant development, Singapore has reported over 56,000 COVID Cases within one week. Notably, the country is reeling under massive COVID-19 infections as the cases jumped tremendously – a 75 per cent increase over the 32,035 infections in the previous week.

The Ministry of Health stated that at least 56,043 cases were recorded in the week of December 3 to 9. The country has issued health advisories to its citizens and has made face mask mandatory in public places.

The Straits Times, citing the Health Ministry, reported that the concerned ministry has announced the opening of a second COVID-19 treatment facility at Singapore Expo Hall 10 this weekend to increase the number of beds for COVID-19 patients. Their doctors will decide if they should be admitted.

“To preserve our healthcare capacity, MOH has been working with public hospitals for contingency planning, including ensuring adequate manpower and deferring of non-urgent electives to maximise bed capacity for urgent cases in need of acute care,” according to the statement.

Looking at the intensity of the matter, it is believed that Singapore might impose a full lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country.

In the meantime, doctors have advised people to get vaccinated against the virus at the earliest and they also appealed to the elders and medically vulnerable to get the jab in order to safeguard themselves from the fatal disease.

Malaysia Reports 20,000 Covid Cases

A similar situation has been witnessed in Malaysia which recorded 20,696 Covid-19 cases between December 10 and 16. Giving details, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad on Monday refuted the speculations of lockdown which is often dubbed as Movement Control Order (MCO).

“At present, the situation is not causing a burden on our health facilities. Do not be alarmed, but at the same time, take precautionary measures,” The Straits Times quoted the minister as saying.

Corona Cases In India

India’s COVID situation remains under control, with an active caseload of 1,828 as of Monday. However, one death was reported in Kerala, where the JN.1 subvariant of the coronavirus was recently detected.

Dr NK Arora, the chief of INSACOG, a network of genomic laboratories that tracks genomic variants of the virus, said that the death was not caused by the subvariant alone but by multiple underlying health conditions.

“The deceased had severe comorbidities like heart, lung, and kidney diseases. The primary cause of death was attributed to these conditions, not solely to the JN.1 subvariant,” said Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) Chief Dr NK Arora.

On genome sequencing in other states, he said, “No cause for panic (over JN.1 subvariant). The number of samples is less but these are being collected from all the states.”

Dr Arora emphasised that “INSACOG is closely monitoring the situation, studying the epidemiology and clinical behaviour of the virus.”

Earlier on Saturday, Dr Rajiv Bahl, Director General (DG) of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), stated in a statement issued by the Union Health Ministry that “a case of JN.1 subvariant of COVID-19 has been detected in Kerala as part of the ongoing routine surveillance activity by INSACOG.”