A four-year-old girl in Singapore who contracted the coronavirus died of pneumonia on Sunday, marking the city-state’s second death caused by Covid-19 in a patient aged under 12 years.
The death comes less than a month since a one-and-a-half year old toddler infected with Covid-19 passed away in the country, which is going through a wave of infections driven by Omicron sub-variants.
The four-year-old patient had no past medical history and was previously well, the Ministry of Health said in a statement to Bloomberg News.
“Children are generally more resilient to Covid-19 infections than adults and the elderly. Notwithstanding, Covid-19 infections can result in severe disease amongst children,” MOH said.
The ministry in June had said it was studying the safety and effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines for children under 5. It reiterated that it was looking into vaccines for young children in its statement on Tuesday, but did not give a timeline.
Average infections over a seven-day period in the Southeast Asian nation climbed to 9,121 as of midday July 18, from 3,789 a month ago, according to the MOH’s website.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung had said the wave of infections is near its peak, “if not at the peak” in parliament on July 5. Authorities have assessed that the wave driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variants will not be as severe as the Omicron wave earlier this year.
Around 93% of Singapore’s population is double-vaccinated, while more than three in four have also had a booster.