Singapore records 3,496 new infections

There were 3,496 new Covid-19 cases detected in Singapore yesterday, and one death, according to the Ministry of Health's (MOH) daily update.

This is an increase of over 1,000 cases from the 2,463 cases reported on Saturday.

The weekly Covid-19 infection growth rate was at 2.75, up from 2.64 the day before.

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

Yesterday's figure means it is taking less than one week for case numbers to double, as the Republic deals with a wave of infections driven by the Omicron variant.

Of the total cases, 2,007 were detected through polymerase chain reaction tests - comprising 1,577 local cases and 430 imported cases.

Another 1,489 cases were detected through antigen rapid tests (ARTs) and assessed by a doctor to have mild symptoms and to be of low risk. MOH has begun including cases detected by ART since last Friday.

Of the cases detected through ART, 1,480 were local and nine were imported.

MOH also reported one death, but did not give further details. There were 433 patients in hospital, with 29 requiring oxygen supplementation and nine in the intensive care unit.

As at yesterday, Singapore has recorded a total of 313,772 Covid-19 cases, with 848 deaths.