New cases rise to 1,239; infection growth rate dips

There were 1,239 new Covid-19 infections reported in Singapore yesterday, up from 1,103 on Monday.

The intensive care unit utilisation rate was at 58.5 per cent, up from 51.2 per cent on Monday, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its daily update.

The Covid-19 weekly infection growth rate was at 0.66, down from 0.69 on Monday.

This is the 18th day in a row that the growth rate is below one.

The number refers to the ratio of community cases in the past week over the week before.

A weekly infection growth rate that is consistently below one shows that the number of new weekly Covid-19 cases is falling.

Eight people aged between 47 and 87 died of complications linked to Covid-19, said MOH.

All of them had various underlying medical conditions, it added, without giving further details.

The latest deaths take the total number of fatalities in Singapore to 718.

The new infections comprised 1,193 cases in the community, 24 in migrant worker dormitories and 22 imported cases.

Of the community cases, 179 were seniors aged 60 and above.

The total number of cases in Singapore now stands at 264,725.

Among the clusters that are under close monitoring is LC Nursing Home in Siglap, which had a new case, taking its total to 16. Of these cases, one is a staff member and 15 are residents.

Another cluster with a new case is Econ Healthcare Nursing Home in Chai Chee, taking its tally to 42. Two are staff while the rest are residents.

As at Monday, 86 per cent of the total population have either completed the full vaccination regimen or taken two doses of the vaccines, and 26 per cent have taken booster shots.