There were 322 new coronavirus cases announced yesterday, taking Singapore's total to 46,283.

They include 11 community cases, comprising two Singaporeans or permanent residents and nine work pass holders, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a preliminary update at about 5pm yesterday.

The ministry said that the higher number of cases was mainly due to fewer tests being conducted by the Covid-19 testing laboratories over the public holiday and weekend of July 10 and 11, with the backlog of samples being cleared from Sunday.

"The number of cases reported for July 9 and before was not affected," MOH said.

There were also five imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore.

Migrant workers staying in dormitories make up the remaining vast majority of cases.

The ministry said it would provide more information on the cases last night, but the update did not come before midnight.

MOH said that the average number of new cases in the community per day had increased to 14 in the past week from 12 in the week before.

The average number of unlinked cases in the community per day also increased to eight in the past week from six in the week before.

As of yesterday, 166 confirmed cases were still in hospital, with one of them in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Another 3,550 were being isolated and cared for at community facilities, which are for those with mild symptoms or who are clinically well but still tested positive for Covid-19.

Twenty-six people have died from Covid-19 complications in Singapore, and 14 patients who tested positive for Covid-19 died of other causes.

Globally, the virus outbreak, which began last December, has infected over 13 million people.

More than 571,900 people have died.