18,545 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, 1,472 patients hospitalised

[SINGAPORE] The total number of Covid-19 cases reported on Thursday (Feb 17) rose by 1,662 to 18,545 cases, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its daily update.

The number of patients hospitalised also rose to 1,472, from 1,352 the day before.

For the 13th successive day, hospitalisation numbers have exceeded 1,000.

There were 32 patients in the intensive care unit, down from 35 on Wednesday. A total of 164 patients required oxygen support, up from 153 on Wednesday.

There were 4 deaths reported on Thursday.

Of the 18,319 local cases recorded on Thursday, 15,162 cases were detected through antigen rapid tests (ART), which means the patients displayed no symptoms or their symptoms were mild.

Another 3,157 cases were detected through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

There were also 226 new imported cases, with 163 detected through PCR tests and 63 through ART.

The weekly Covid-19 infection growth rate stood at 1.28, down from 1.29 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 1 shows that the number of new weekly Covid-19 cases is increasing.

As at Thursday, Singapore has a total of 533,425 Covid-19 cases, with 930 deaths.

About 94 per cent of Singapore's eligible population have completed the full vaccination regimen, and 65 per cent have received the vaccine booster shot. THE STRAITS TIMES