Singapore's Covid-19 weekly infection growth rate dips to 0.70; below one for 17th day in a row

[SINGAPORE] The Covid-19 weekly infection growth rate in Singapore remained below one for the 17th consecutive day on Friday (Mar 18), dropping to 0.70 from 0.73 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 indicates the number of new weekly Covid-19 cases is increasing.

The Ministry of Health reported 10,594 new infections on Friday, a drop from last Friday's total of 15,345 cases.

There were 10,713 cases on Thursday (Mar 17).

There were also 1,175 hospitalisations as at noon on Friday, down from 1,230 on Thursday.

Nine deaths were reported on Friday, down from 12 the day before.

There were 30 patients in the intensive care unit, and 137 needed oxygen supplementation.

Of the local cases, 8,518 were detected through antigen rapid tests (ARTs) and were assessed by a doctor to have mild symptoms and to be of low risk.

Another 1,917 cases were detected through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

There were 159 new imported cases, of which 53 were detected through PCR tests and 106 through ARTs.

As at Friday, Singapore has recorded a total of 996,914 Covid-19 cases and 1,191deaths.

About 95 per cent of the eligible population in Singapore have completed their full vaccination regimen, and 70 per cent of the total population have received their booster shot. THE STRAITS TIMES