682 new COVID-19 cases reported on Dec 9; first local Omicron case recorded

There were 682 new COVID-19 cases reported in Singapore on Thursday (Dec 9), said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

It is the seventh day in a row that daily new COVID-19 cases have fallen below 1,000.

Of the new infections, 649 were from the community and 291 of those infected were aged between 12 and 39.

Two new cases have tested preliminarily positive for the Omicron variant, said MOH. One of the cases is an airport frontline worker – the first local Omicron case reported in Singapore.

The 24 year-old female Singaporean works as a passenger service staff at Changi Airport Terminals 1 and 3, and had also worked at the transit holding area, where she may have interacted with transit passengers from Omicron-affected countries, said MOH.

She did not work at Terminal 4, where the three earlier cases of Omicron infections, Cases 271487, 271598, and 273611 had been. She was tested for COVID-19 on Dec 8 as part of weekly Rostered Routine Testing (RRT) for border frontline workers, and her polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result revealed the presence of S-gene Target Failure, which may be associated with the Omicron variant.

She is also fully vaccinated and has received her booster shot. She was asymptomatic when detected through RRT, and may have been in the early stages of infection. Upon being notified of her positive test result, she self-isolated at home until conveyance to NCID.

The National Public Health Laboratory is conducting whole genome sequencing to confirm the variant.

The other case is an imported case. The 46 year-old female Singapore Permanent Resident returned to Singapore from Germany on board SQ325 on Dec 6.

Her pre-departure test in France on Dec 4 was negative for COVID-19 infection. Upon arrival in Singapore, her PCR test on Dec 6 came back negative. She developed a runny nose the following day and she sought medical treatment on Dec 8.

She was tested positive for COVID-19 infection on the same day, and confirmed to have S-gene Target Failure on Dec 9.

Contact tracing for both cases is ongoing. All close contacts of the cases will be placed on 10-day quarantine at designated facilities and undergo PCR tests at the start and end of their quarantine.

All airport staff are already PCR-tested every seven days. As an additional precautionary measure, they will also be required to conduct daily antigen rapid tests for the next seven days.

Five COVID-19-related deaths were reported on Dec 9. The national death toll now stands at 779.

There were 1,474 cases discharged from the hospital over the past day. Currently, 666 cases remain warded in hospitals, with 111 cases requiring oxygen supplementation. There are 51 cases that remain in the Intensive Care Unit.

In the last 28 days, 41,632 cases have been recorded, of which 98.7 per cent had no or mild symptoms and 0.9 per cent have required oxygen supplementation.

As of Dec 8, 96 per cent of the eligible population, 87 per cent of total population, are fully vaccinated, 87 per cent have received at least one dose and 29 per cent have received boosters.