SINGAPORE - There were 1,767 new Covid-19 infections reported on Friday (Nov 5), a significant fall from the 3,003 cases a day earlier.
But the Ministry of Health (MOH), in its nightly update on the coronavirus situation, noted that the fall in the number of cases is likely due to fewer swabs being done over the Deepavali public holiday at Public Health Preparedness Clinics and polyclinics.
Of the new cases, 1,639 were in the community, 120 were in migrant worker dormitories and eight were imported.
As a result of the fall, the Covid-19 weekly infection growth rate dipped to 0.81 on Friday (Nov 5), down from 0.93 on Thursday, said the MOH.
The infection rate refers to the ratio of community cases in the past week over the week before. A weekly infection growth rate that is more than one shows that the number of new weekly Covid-19 cases is still increasing.
However, Friday's update said nine people aged between 67 and 85 have died of complications linked to Covid-19. All of them had various underlying medical conditions, said MOH, without giving further details.
Singapore's death toll now stands at 468.
The Institute of Mental Health cluster saw another 24 new cases, bringing the total to 365 cases on Friday. Of these, 341 are patients and 24 are staff.
This cluster is the largest that MOH is monitoring closely.
The local cases included 284 people above 60 years old.
The total number of cases in Singapore now stands at 212,745.
There are 1,669 patients in hospital, and 282 patients require oxygen supplementation in general hospital wards, with 70 who are unstable and being closely monitored in the intensive care unit (ICU).
There are also 70 patients who are critically ill and intubated in the ICU, meaning they need ventilators to help them breathe.
The ICU occupancy rate is 68.6 per cent, a dip from Thursday's 70.2 per cent.
Of the 411 ICU beds, 140 are currently occupied by Covid-19 patients. Another 142 are occupied by those with non-Covid-19 conditions and 129 beds are empty.
Other clusters under close monitoring are Jamiyah Home for the Aged, which has a total of 54 cases, and Banyan Home at Pelangi Village, which has a total of 95 cases.
Finance Minister Lawrence Wong had said last month that if the weekly Covid-19 infection growth rate falls below one, people from the same household may be allowed to dine in groups of up to five.
Another condition was that the hospital situation remains stable, especially in ICUs.
