Singapore reports 18,593 new COVID-19 cases on Feb 24, 12 deaths

The Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 18,593 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore on Thursday (Feb 24), down from 20,312 infections the day before. 

There were also 7,586 cases who were between 12 and 39 years old.

Twelve deaths related to COVID-19 were reported on Thursday, taking the national death toll to 975. 

Of the COVID-19 cases reported, 1,992 were detected through Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests. Of these, 1,915 were local cases. 

Another 16,601 cases were detected through Antigen Rapid Tests (ART) and assessed by a doctor to have mild symptoms and of low risk. Of these, 16,519 were local cases.

In total, there were 18,434 local transmission cases.

The weekly COVID-19 infection growth rate decreased to 1.37, down from 1.49 on Wednesday. The growth rate refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before and a weekly infection growth rate above one indicates an increasing number of new weekly cases.

There were 1,615 cases hospitalised on Thursday, up from 1,587 the day before. Of these, 221 cases require oxygen supplementation and 44 cases are in the Intensive Care Unit.

There were also 13,935 cases discharged from the hospital over the past day. 

In the last 28 days, 322,669 cases have been recorded, of which 99.7 per cent had no or mild symptoms and 0.2 per cent have required oxygen supplementation.

As of Feb 23, 94 per cent of the eligible population and 91 per cent of the total population are fully vaccinated, 92 per cent have received at least one dose and 67 per cent have received boosters.