SINGAPORE - Six more coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients were discharged from hospital on Wednesday (Feb 12), bringing the total number of those who have recovered to 15.

There have been 50 cases of infections in Singapore so far since the first case was confirmed on Jan 23.

Three of those discharged on Wednesday were from the cluster of nine cases linked to the Yong Thai Hang medical shop in Cavan Road, which was visited by tourists from Guangxi last month.

They include two of the shop's employees: case 34, a 40-year-old Singaporean woman, and case 40, a 36-year-old Singaporean man.

Both were discharged after less than a week at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

Case 34 was warded for six days from last Thursday.

Case 40 was hospitalised for just five days, from last Friday. He was in hospital for the shortest duration among all the patients discharged to date.

The third is case 25, the husband of case 24.

He is a 40-year-old Singaporean who worked at the Diamond Industries Jewellery Company in Harbour Drive, which was also visited by the same tour group.

His wife, a 32-year-old Singaporean, was the tour guide who brought the Guangxi tourists to Yong Thai Hang. She is still warded at the NCID.

The other three discharged on Wednesday include case 29, a 41-year-old Singaporean man. He had shared a lohei lunch with about 20 colleagues at a well-known Chinese restaurant in Jurong on Jan 28, the day he fell sick.

The remaining two discharged on Wednesday are case 4, a 36-year-old man, and case 12, a 37-year-old woman.

Both are Chinese nationals from Wuhan who arrived in Singapore on Jan 22. Coincidentally, both stayed at the Village Hotel Sentosa, but no direct link has been found between them so far.

Case 4 spent 19 days in hospital, the longest so far among those who have recovered.

Among the 15 patients discharged to date, the average duration of stay in hospital was 12 days.

Of these 15, six are Singapore citizens, one is a Singapore permanent resident and the other eight are Chinese nationals from Wuhan.

They include seven men and eight women, with an average age of 43.

The oldest, case 13, is a 73-year-old woman from Wuhan who was discharged from the NCID on Feb 9, 12 days after she was warded.

The youngest, a 35-year-old Wuhan man, was the first patient to recover and be discharged on Feb 4, after 11 days in the NCID. He was Singapore's seventh confirmed case.

Two Singaporeans who were evacuated from Wuhan on a Jan 30 Scoot flight were previously discharged, including case 22, a 41-year-old man who had no symptoms when he tested positive for the virus on Feb 3. He was discharged on Sunday.

The other passenger, a 47-year-old Singaporean woman, was discharged on Tuesday. She had developed symptoms on Jan 30 and tested positive the following day.

The Ministry of Health declined to comment on whether the 41-year-old man had subsequently developed symptoms between Feb 3 and Sunday.

A 38-year-old woman, who is a Singapore permanent resident, was discharged on Tuesday. She was the first case to be discharged among the three linked to a business meeting held at the Grand Hyatt last month.

Of the remaining 35 patients who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving but eight are in critical condition, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"While most infected patients will recover, some may become seriously ill and a small number may succumb to the infection ultimately.

"We have to be prepared for the worst," he added.