Singapore tightens regulations after reporting the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in one day.

On September 28, pedestrians pass past a nearly vacant Raffles Place in Singapore's prime business area.
 

Singapore's Covid-19 restrictions will be extended for another month after the city-state reported 18 new cases of the disease on Wednesday, the pandemic's highest number yet.

Singapore's Ministry of Health announced on Thursday that current measures would be extended until November 21 to assist manage case numbers, which had risen by more than 3,800 on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, given the ongoing strains on our healthcare system, more time is required for the situation to stabilize," the ministry said in a statement, adding that hospitals should expect "a continuous, severe patient load."

"(The ministry) is doing everything we can to help and strengthen the hospitals," according to the statement.

Medical personnel was "stressed and weary," said Lawrence Wong, co-chair of Singapore's Covid-19 group, on Wednesday.

"We stand a significant risk of the healthcare system being overwhelmed in the current situation," he warned.

Singapore declared in June that it would abandon its zero-Covid goal in favor of a new strategy for dealing with the virus. The country's high vaccination rates, which are among the finest in the world, enabled the turnaround.

According to the Ministry of Health, 84 percent of Singapore's population had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of October 19, and 85 percent had gotten at least one dose.

However, because of an increase in cases caused by the highly contagious Delta strain, Singapore was compelled to postpone its removal of restrictions in late September.

The new restrictions, known as the "Stabilisation Phase," began on September 27 and were supposed to terminate on October 24. Social events are limited to two people under these rules, and workers are encouraged to stay at home.

According to the Ministry of Health, the extended limits will be reviewed at the two-week mark and changed based on the Covid-19 community situation.

According to the news release, 98.7% of locally infected cases were asymptomatic or had moderate symptoms over the preceding 28 days, with only 0.1 percent requiring ICU treatment.

According to the government, 630 of the 3,862 new coronavirus cases discovered on Wednesday were linked to migrant worker dorms. The remaining instances were nearly entirely confined to the neighborhood.

The total number of people who have died in Singapore as a result of the epidemic has now reached 264, according to the ministry.

The government also warned that unvaccinated persons over the age of 60 continue to be infected at a significant rate.

"The number of infections within this category averaged 127 each day over the preceding 5 days," the ministry stated, adding that senior citizens over 60 accounted for two-thirds of all ICU patients.