Singapore reports 18,545 new COVID-19 cases, 4 deaths
17 Feb 2022
Singapore reported 18,545 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Thursday (Feb 17), comprising 18,319 local and 226 imported infections.
There were also four fatalities. This takes the death toll from coronavirus complications to 930.
There are 1,472 patients in hospital, according to the latest infection statistics on the MOH website. A total of 164 require oxygen supplementation, up from Wednesday's figure of 153.
Thirty-two patients are in the intensive care unit compared to 35 on Wednesday.
Most of Singapore's new COVID-19 infections are Protocol 2 cases, which are those who are well or assessed to have a mild condition.
Among the cases reported on Thursday, 15,225 are classified under Protocol 2, comprising 15,162 local cases and 63 imported ones.
Another 3,320 cases were confirmed via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, with 163 of them being imported infections.
The weekly infection growth rate is 1.28, down from Wednesday's 1.29.
Singapore has recorded 533,425 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.
As of Wednesday, 94 per cent of Singapore's eligible population have completed their full vaccination regimen under the national vaccination programme.
About 65 per cent of the total population have received their vaccine booster shots.
According to estimates from MOH, about 8,000 COVID-19 deaths were averted in the last five months of 2021 because of Singapore's public health measures and efforts to vaccinate a high proportion of the population.
MOH figures in a report issued by the Ministry of Finance indicated that between Aug 1, 2021, and Dec 31, 2021, when Delta variant infections peaked in Singapore, vaccines averted about 8,000 deaths, 33,000 severe cases and 112,000 hospitalisation episodes.
It said that Singapore has kept its COVID-19 death rate low, at 15.7 deaths per 100,000 of the population.
Source: Channel News Asia
