S'pore reports 20,312 new Covid-19 cases, 1,587 patients hospitalised

The weekly Covid-19 infection growth rate stood at 1.49, dipping from 1.57 the day before. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

SINGAPORE - A total of 20,312 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Wednesday night (Feb 23), down from a record 26,032 infections on Tuesday.

This is the second day in a row that daily new cases have exceeded the 20,000 mark.

There were a total of 1,587 Covid-19 cases in hospital on Wednesday, down from 1,608 on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its nightly update on case numbers.

There were 46 cases in the intensive care unit and 200 patients required oxygen support, MOH added.

Seven deaths were also reported on Wednesday.

Of the local cases, 17,267 were detected through antigen rapid tests (ARTs), which means the patients displayed no symptoms or their symptoms were mild.

Another 2,885 cases were detected through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

There were 160 new imported cases, comprising 105 detected through PCR tests and 55 through ARTs.

The weekly Covid-19 infection growth rate stood at 1.49, dipping from 1.57 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 Wednesday, Singapore has recorded a total of 642,605 Covid-19 cases, with 963 deaths.

About 91 per cent of the eligible population have completed the full vaccination regimen, and 66 per cent have received a booster shot.

See the full update from MOH here.

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