There is no significant increase in severity or deaths from the EG.5 Omicron subvariant compared with other circulating strains, says the Ministry of Health.
SINGAPORE: About 18 per cent of recent COVID-19 community cases in Singapore were infected with the EG.5 Omicron subvariant, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Tuesday (Aug 8).
The first local case infected with the subvariant was detected on May 5.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), currently available evidence does not suggest that the subvariant has contributed to any significant increase in cases, disease severity, or deaths, as compared with other circulating strains, said the ministry.
The number of COVID-19 cases hospitalised or in intensive care has remained stable, said MOH, adding that it will continue to monitor the local situation closely.
According to the latest data on MOH's website, Singapore has seen a drop in the weekly number of COVID-19 cases, with about 5,000 cases in the week from Jul 23 to Jul 29.
Cases peaked earlier this year, with more than 28,000 cases recorded in the country in the week from Mar 26 to Apr 1.
The number of new COVID-19 cases hospitalised was down to 102 cases in the week leading up to Jul 29, down from the high of 568 in the week from Apr 23 to Apr 29.
In June, 27 COVID-19 cases died – 20 were aged 60 and above, while the remaining seven were aged between 12 and 59.
The EG.5 Omicron subvariant, which includes the subgroup EG.5.1, is a descendant of subvariant XBB.1.9.2.
EG.5 was first detected overseas in February this year, and has since been reported in at least 51 countries, MOH said.
The WHO designated EG.5, including EG.5.1, as a variant under monitoring on Jul 19.
COVID-19 variants are categorised by the WHO as a variant under monitoring, a variant of interest or a variant of concern.
According to the WHO's working definition, a COVID-19 variant under monitoring is one that is suspected to show "early signals of growth advantage" relative to other circulating variants.
Evidence of the variant's impact is unclear and it requires monitoring and reassessment, pending new evidence.
Source from Channel News Asia
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