Singapore's Covid-19 weekly infection growth rate drops below 1 for the first time since January

SINGAPORE - The Covid-19 weekly infection growth rate dipped to 0.98 on Wednesday (March 2), the first time it has gone below one since Jan 3, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its nightly update.

The infection growth rate was 1.02 on Tuesday.

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

A total of 19,159 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Wednesday, down from 24,080 infections the day before.

Last Wednesday, Singapore reported 20,312 cases, a day after the record high of 26,032 cases last Tuesday.

There were 1,708 patients in hospital on Wednesday, down from 1,726 on Tuesday, said MOH.

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The number of patients in the intensive care unit dropped slightly to 51, down from 53 the previous day, while 215 patients required oxygen support.

Ten deaths were reported on Wednesday, one fewer than on Tuesday.

Of the local cases, 16,374 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 2,625 cases were detected through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

There were 160 new imported cases, of which 52 were detected through PCR tests and 108 through ARTs.

As at Wednesday, Singapore has recorded a total of 767,663 Covid-19 cases, with 1,040 deaths.

About 95 per cent of the eligible population have completed their full vaccination regimen, and 68 per cent of the total population have received their booster shot.

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