932 new coronavirus cases in Singapore on Friday, as total crosses 17,000

[SINGAPORE] There are 932 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, taking the total count to 17,101, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday.

It is the eighth day in a row where the new daily infections fell below 1,000, though Friday's number is higher than in recent days.

Five Singaporeans and permanent residents are among the new patients. Migrant workers living in dormitories continue to form the bulk of the remaining cases.

The ministry said more details will be released later on Friday.

On Thursday, MOH reported 528 new cases, of which 488 are foreign workers living in dormitories.

A total of 13,842 of 323,000 migrant workers living in dormitories - 4.3 per cent - have tested positive for Covid-19.

MOH had said on Thursday that it picked up more cases in dormitories because of extensive testing. Most of these cases have a mild illness and are being monitored in community isolation facilities or the general wards of hospitals. Three are in the intensive care unit.

The ministry added that the number of new cases in the community has decreased to an average of 14 a day in the past week from an average of 25 cases a day two weeks ago.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also fallen to an average of seven a day in the past week from an average of 17 cases a day two weeks ago.

As of Thursday, 1,244 patients in Singapore have fully recovered from the virus and been discharged.

Fifteen have died from Covid-19 complications.

Globally, the outbreak, which began in December last year, has infected more than 3.3 million people. Some 233,000 have died.

The United States is the worst affected country in the world with more than 1.09 million cases and 63,000 deaths from Covid-19 as of Friday.

THE STRAITS TIMES

For the latest numbers on the global coronavirus situation, go to bt.sg/ncov