16,870 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, 3 deaths reported

SINGAPORE - There were 16,870 new Covid-19 cases recorded in Singapore on Wednesday (July 13), almost triple the 5,979 cases on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said on its website that this increase was due to the spike normally seen after a long weekend.

"The increase in the number of cases today is due to the spike we typically see following a long weekend. The 7-day moving average number of local cases has remained stable over the past week, at about 8,400," said MOH.

There were 9,989 new cases last Wednesday.

The week-on-week infection ratio rose to 1.01 on Wednesday from 0.91 on Tuesday, MOH reported in an update on its website.

Last Wednesday's ratio was 1.26.

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The rate refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over that of the week before. A rate of more than 1 shows the number of new weekly Covid-19 cases is increasing.

MOH said there were 734 patients hospitalised, with 14 in intensive care and 90 requiring oxygen support.

There were three deaths reported.

Of the new local cases, 906 were detected through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

Another 15,072 were detected through antigen rapid tests (ART), which means they either had no symptoms or their symptoms were mild.

There were 892 new imported cases, with 38 detected through PCR tests and 854 through ART.

Singapore has recorded a total of 1,557,648 Covid-19 cases, and 1,440 deaths.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.