SINGAPORE: The current wave of COVID-19 cases, driven by the XBB strain, will likely peak by around mid-November, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Saturday (Oct 15).
“This is likely to be a short and sharp wave,” said Mr Ong, saying that Singapore is likely to see about 15,000 daily cases on average.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) said that using the BA.5 wave as an indication, hospitalised cases peaked at 800 in July, and hospitals in Singapore, while stretched, were able to cope.
The proportion of cases with the XBB strain, an Omicron subvariant, has been on the rise in Singapore over the past month. While highly transmissible, it has not caused more severe disease than previous variants thus far.
On Oct 14, there were 9,087 new COVID-19 cases reported in Singapore and nine were in ICU. A total of 562 patients were hospitalised, with 44 requiring oxygen. The week-on-week infection ratio is 1.64.
In Singapore, XBB is now the predominant subvariant, accounting for 54 per cent of local cases from Oct 3 to 9. It was first detected in August in India and has since been detected in more than 17 countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Denmark, Japan and the US, said MOH. The evidence is that XBB may be driving an increase in reinfections, Mr Ong said.