(Bloomberg) -- Singapore saw a 23% week-on-week increase in Covid-19 community infections, with the surge in cases mainly driven by newer omicron subvariants. 

The new variants, known as BA.4 and BA.5, account for about 30% of new Covid-19 cases in the past week with the rise in related cases likely to continue, the country’s Ministry of Health said in a statement Tuesday. Both strains have higher transmissibility though evidence currently shows that the severity of infections linked to these subvariants is similar to that of earlier strains of omicron. 

The country has not seen a significant increase in the number of severe Covid-19 cases in hospitals and cases in the intensive care units remain low, the ministry said. 

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung earlier this week urged the elderly to take vaccine booster shots as the Southeast Asian nation is expecting a fresh wave of Covid-19 infections over the next one to two months. About 80,000 people 60 years and above had not yet taken their boosters, Ong said in a video posted on Facebook Monday. The city-state boasts one of the world’s highest vaccination rates, with 92% of its 5.5 million population inoculated against Covid-19 while 77% have received a booster.

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