Singapore records 1,734 new Covid-19 cases; ICU utilisation rate at 57%

[SINGAPORE] There were 1,734 new Covid-19 infections reported in Singapore on Friday (Nov 19), down from 2,038 the day before, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

The Covid-19 weekly infection growth rate also fell to 0.77, down from 0.90 on Thursday.

The infection growth rate has been below one for seven consecutive days.

The number refers to the ratio of community cases in the past week over the week before. A weekly infection growth rate that is consistently below one shows that the number of new weekly Covid-19 cases is declining.

The ICU utilisation rate has been on the decline in the past two weeks. The figure was at 57 per cent on Friday, down from 58.8 per cent on Thursday. It was at 70.2 per cent on Nov 4, although the total number of intensive care unit beds has varied during this period - between 398 and 430.

There were 16 people aged between 52 and 93 who died of complications linked to Covid-19, MOH said. All of them, except for an unvaccinated case, had various underlying medical conditions, it added, without giving further details.

The latest deaths take the total number of fatalities in Singapore to 641.

The new infections on Friday comprised 1,633 cases in the community, 97 in migrant worker dormitories and four that were imported.

Of the community cases, 268 are seniors aged 60 and above.

The total number of cases in Singapore now stands at 248,587.

THE STRAITS TIMES