SINGAPORE - Ten people between the ages of 66 and 98 have died of complications linked to Covid-19, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Tuesday (Oct 26).
All of them had various underlying medical conditions, except one who was unvaccinated, said MOH in its daily virus update. It gave no further details.
This takes Singapore's death toll to 339.
Tuesday is the 37th day in a row that deaths from Covid-19 were reported in Singapore.
There were 3,277 new Covid-19 infections in total, comprising 2,984 new cases in the community, 288 in migrant worker dormitories and five imported cases, said MOH.
The weekly infection growth rate is at 1.11.
The community cases included 506 seniors above 60 years old.
The total number of cases in Singapore now stands at 179,095.
MOH added it has been working with hospitals to set aside more beds in the intensive care unit (ICU) for patients infected with Covid-19, as and when the beds are needed.
It said: "In view of the current ICU occupancy rates, we have triggered the next 100 ICU beds, which will be ready next week. While we are able to stand up ICU beds at short notice, the increased load of patients adds strain and pressure on the healthcare system and our healthcare workers."
The ministry added it encourages everyone who has not done so to get vaccinated against Covid-19 to protect themselves and to ease the load on Singapore's healthcare system.
It also said those who are not vaccinated should minimise unnecessary movement and social interactions.
The current utilisation rate of ICU beds is 79.2 per cent, down from 83.6 per cent the day before.
There are 360 beds in total, of which 139 are occupied by non-Covid patients, and 146 beds are used by Covid-19 patients and 75 beds are empty.
In an update on large clusters it is monitoring, MOH said a cluster at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) now has 138 cases linked to it. Of these, 10 are staff while 128 are patients.
The cluster was first reported by MOH on Monday.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, IMH said the cluster was first detected when several cases were found in several wards in mid-October.
IMH added that most patients are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, while eight have been transferred to another hospital for further treatment. None of the staff who have been infected have been hospitalised.
MOH added that as at Tuesday, there were 19,013 patients in home recovery, 4,570 in community care facilities and 878 in Covid-19 treatment facilities.
There were 1,787 patients in hospital.
