There’s nothing to worry about yet – even as Covid-19 infections spike to 11,372 on Tuesday, Oct 12.
This is more than double from the 4,719 cases the day before in Singapore but the Ministry of Health (MOH) says severe cases are still low.
“This is very likely due to the resilience built up through vaccination and previous waves of infection,” MOH added.
The new spike is attributed to the XBB variant, an Omnicron subvariant which is being scrutinised at the moment.
The XBB subvariant has been detected in several countries such as India, Japan, Australia and the United States since August this year, the MOH states but also said that based on preliminary data, XBB cases are not more serious than other Omnicron strains.
Symptoms are mild and include the usual sore throat and slight fever, especially for those who have already been vaccinated.
There have been messages circulating that the new variant is causing severe illness and deaths but this has been refuted by MOH.
MOH will be launching action against these rumours going around on WhatsApp on the basis of the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA).
The bivalent Moderna Covid-19 vaccine will also be available in Singapore on Friday – three days ahead of schedule – to tackle the spike in XBB variant cases.
According to MOH, the particular vaccine targets not only the original strain but also the Omnicron variants, provides better protection against new variants – and is proven to be safe and effective.
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