The number of fresh COVID-19 cases in Singapore jumped to 965 in the past week, up from 763 the previous week. The number of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) went up from 23 to 32 in the same period. These are the highest numbers of new weekly hospitalisation and ICU admission for COVID-19 patients in 2023, TODAY newspaper reported on Thursday.

Most COVID-19 patients here are infected by JN.1, a sublineage of the coronavirus` Omicron subvariant BA.2.86. With the JN.1 variant, winter conditions in the northern hemisphere and more people choosing not to wear masks have fueled the increase in COVID-19 cases, TODAY, citing experts, reported. Based on the available international and domestic data, there is no clear indication now that BA.2.86 or JN.1 are more transmissible or cause more severe disease than other circulating variants, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH).