18,593 new cases; more patients in hospital

There were 18,593 new Covid-19 cases reported yesterday, down from 20,312 on Wednesday.

This is the first day that the number of daily new cases has fallen below the 20,000 mark, after exceeding that figure on Tuesday and Wednesday.

But the number of patients in hospital has increased. There were a total of 1,615 Covid-19 patients in hospital yesterday, up from 1,587 on Wednesday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its nightly update on cases.

There were 44 cases in the intensive care unit and 221 patients required oxygen support, MOH added. Twelve deaths were also reported.

Of the local cases, 16,519 were detected through antigen rapid tests (ARTs), which means the patients displayed no symptoms or their symptoms were mild.

Another 1,915 cases were detected through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

There were 159 new imported cases, comprising 77 detected through PCR tests and 82 through ARTs.

The weekly Covid-19 infection growth rate stood at 1.37, dipping from 1.49 the day before.

The rate refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before. A rate of more than one shows that the number of new weekly Covid-19 cases is increasing.

As at yesterday, Singapore has recorded a total of 661,198 Covid-19 cases, with 975 deaths.

About 94 per cent of the eligible population have completed their full vaccination regimen, and 67 per cent of the total population have had a booster shot.