SINGAPORE - The Covid-19 weekly infection growth rate dipped to 0.93 on Thursday (Nov 4), down from 0.96 on Wednesday, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).
This is the second day in a row it has dropped below one since MOH started reporting the figure.
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, 17 people aged between 55 and 93 have died of complications linked to Covid-19. All of them had various underlying medical conditions, said MOH in its daily update, without giving further details.
Singapore's death toll now stands at 459.
The Institute of Mental Health (IMH) cluster grew from 294 cases on Wednesday to 338 cases on Thursday. Of these, 317 are patients and 21 are staff.
This cluster is the largest that MOH is monitoring closely.
On Thursday, IMH had said patients with more serious Covid-19 symptoms will be transferred to acute hospitals if required. About 40 have been transferred there as at Wednesday.
IMH said it is working with MOH to manage the cluster and minimise the risks of future clusters.
MOH also reported 3,003 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday.
The number of new cases comprised 2,780 in the community, 220 in migrant worker dormitories and three imported cases.
The local cases included 471 people above 60 years old.
The total number of cases in Singapore now stands at 210,978.
There are 1,683 patients in hospital, and 286 patients require oxygen supplementation in general hospital wards, with 66 who are unstable and being closely monitored in the intensive care unit (ICU).
There are also 72 patients who are critically ill and intubated in the ICU, meaning they need ventilators to help them breathe.
The ICU occupancy rate is 70.2 per cent, a dip compared with Wednesday's 72.7 per cent.
Of the 409 ICU beds, 138 are currently occupied by Covid-19 patients. Another 149 are occupied by those with non-Covid-19 conditions and 122 beds are empty.
Other clusters under close monitoring are PCF Sparkletots @ Whampoa Block 85, which has a total of 24 cases, and Jamiyah Home for the Aged, which has a total of 50 cases.
Acacia Home in Admiralty added seven new cases, while Banyan Home @ Pelangi Village in Buangkok added one new case.
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 out in groups of up to five.
Another condition was that the hospital situation remains stable, especially in ICUs.
