Daily Covid-19 cases lowest since Feb 7

SINGAPORE - Daily Covid-19 cases fell below 10,000 for the third time in March, with 7,859 new Covid-19 infections on Sunday (March 20), down from 10,244 on Saturday.

This is the lowest daily total since Feb 7, when 7,806 new cases were recorded.

The Covid-19 weekly infection growth rate remained below one for the 19th consecutive day at 0.71, up from 0.7 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 (MOH) also reported 1,065 hospitalisations as at noon on Sunday, down from 1,130 on Saturday.

There were four deaths reported on Sunday, up from three the day before.

There were 23 patients in the intensive care unit and 139 needed oxygen supplementation.

Of the local cases, 6,521 were detected through antigen rapid tests (ARTs), which means they were assessed by a doctor to have mild symptoms and to be of low risk.

Another 1,212 cases were detected through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

There were 126 new imported cases, of which 29 were detected through PCR tests and 97 through ARTs.

Singapore has recorded a total of 1,198 deaths and 1,015,017 cases as at Sunday. Singapore crossed the one million mark for the number of Covid-19 cases on Saturday.

About 95 per cent of the eligible population in Singapore have completed their full vaccination regimen and 71 per cent of the total population have received their booster shot.

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