SINGAPORE, 19 Nov (CNA)- Singapore reported 1,734 new COVID-19 cases and 16 more deaths linked to the coronavirus as of noon on Friday (Nov 19).

The fatalities were aged between 52 and 93. All of them, except for an unvaccinated case, had various underlying medical conditions. The Ministry of Health (MOH) did not specify what these medical conditions were.

Singapore's death toll from the coronavirus now stands at 641.

The overall intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation rate is at 57 per cent, after falling on Thursday to below 60 per cent for the first time since records were released about three weeks ago.

The number of new cases reported on Friday is down from the 2,038 infections reported on Thursday.

The weekly infection growth rate is 0.77 as of Friday, lower than the the 0.90 reported on Thursday. This refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before.

The weekly infection growth rate has stayed below 1 for seven consecutive days.

Of the new cases reported on Friday, 1,730 are locally transmitted, comprising 1,633 infections in the community and 97 in migrant workers' dormitories.

The daily number of COVID-19 community cases is the lowest since Sep 27.

The remaining four are imported cases, MOH said in its daily update released to the media at about 10.25pm.

As of Friday, Singapore has reported 248,587 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.