SINGAPORE: Rumours that Singapore is having a rapid and large increase in COVID-19 cases with severe illness and deaths due to the circulating XBB strain is not true, said the republic’s Ministry of Health (MOH).
“We are initiating POFMA (The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019) action against such falsehoods,” said the ministry in a statement posted in its website Tuesday.
POFMA is known colloquially as Fake News Law.
Those rumours have been circulating via WhatsApp here.
“While there is an increase in local cases driven by XBB, including the post-weekend spike this Tuesday, the number of severe cases has remained relatively low.
“This is very likely due to the resilience built up through vaccination and previous waves of infection. We are monitoring the trajectory closely,” said MOH.
More importantly, MOH said there is also no evidence of XBB causing more severe illness.
“So far, the large majority of patients continue to report mild symptoms such as the sore throat or slight fever, especially if they have been vaccinated,” said the ministry.
As of Oct 11, 2022, MOH said the republic has 11 intensive care unit (ICU) cases and 50 who need oxygen supplementation, “just slightly higher than the level observed in the past few months.”
In comparison, at the peaks of the previous Delta and Omicron waves, these numbers were 171 (ICU) and 308 (oxygen supplementation), and 54 (ICU) and 242 (oxygen supplementation) respectively, it said.
The ministry said the increase in hospitalised cases is in line with the overall increase in cases.
There are currently 490 hospitalised cases compared to 1,600 at the peak of the Delta wave and about 800 at the peak of the Omicron wave.
There were 11,732 new COVID-19 infections reported here on Tuesday. - Bernama
