Singapore reported zero Covid-19 deaths on 24 December, the first time in more than 3 months since 19 September.
As it stands, the death toll remains at 820.
Covid cases
There were 265 new cases of Covid-19 on Christmas eve, with 177 of those being in the community and 79 being imported.
The weekly infection growth rate has also dropped to 0.52 to 0.57, and it has been below 1 since 13 November.
Omicron cases
There were also 82 new Omicron cases on Christmas eve, with 17 being local cases and 65 being imported.
MOH said that Covid-19 cases who test positive for the “S-gene target failure (SGTF)” will be categorised as Omicron cases, without the additional whole genome sequencing (WGS)
“From today, COVID-19 cases tested positive for the S-gene target failure (SGTF) will be categorised as Omicron cases, without additional whole genome sequencing (WGS).
Based on our local experience, if a person tests positive for SGTF, it is very likely that it is an Omicron variant. This is aligned to the practice in other countries, and does not change our existing public health actions which are already triggered on the basis of detecting SGTF.
Due to this change, the number of Omicron cases will see a one-time substantial increase from the last update, as samples pending WGS have been included in today’s count.”
Image source: Tan Tock Seng Hospital Facebook