SINGAPORE, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Singapore recorded an estimated 12,700 COVID-19 cases in the week of May 10 to 16, 2026, up from 8,000 cases in the previous week, according to official data released on Thursday, alongside a modest rise in hospitalizations.
Over the same period, average daily hospitalizations increased to 73 from 56 a week earlier, while intensive care unit (ICU) cases averaged one per day, the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) said in a statement.
The agency said public acute hospitals are able to manage the increase in cases.
The CDA noted that the rise in infections may be driven by several factors, including waning population immunity. The NB.1.8.1 variant, a descendant of the JN.1 strain, remains the dominant COVID-19 variant in Singapore, accounting for more than half of locally sequenced cases.
It added that current COVID-19 vaccines continue to provide protection against the circulating variant.
The agency said it is closely monitoring the increase in infections, adding that periodic waves of COVID-19 are expected as the virus becomes endemic alongside other respiratory diseases.
However, it stressed that there is currently no indication that locally circulating variants are more transmissible or cause more severe disease compared with earlier strains. ■