Singapore on Saturday reported 50 new COVID-19 cases, including five imported infections, taking the national tally to 56,266, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

The five imported cases have been placed under stay-home notices upon their arrival in Singapore.

The two community cases reported on Saturday are Singaporeans, while the rest 43 patients are migrants, it said.

This brings the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 56,266.

The MOH, on Friday, said that from September 1, some travellers from Brunei and New Zealand will be allowed to take a COVID-19 test instead of serving a stay-home notice (SHN).

If they test negative, they will be allowed to carry out their activities in Singapore, reported Channel News Asia, citing the ministry.

Brunei and New Zealand were chosen because COVID-19 in those countries is under control, with an incidence rate of less than 0.1 infections per hundred thousand population, Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said.

"For the two countries we just listed, these are very established systems already. They have shown themselves to be effective (in containing COVID-19), very low case loads ... systems that give us a lot of confidence," the minister said.

The MOH also announced on Friday that the 14-day SHN period for travellers from "low-risk" countries and regions will be reduced to seven days. The isolation period can be served at their place of residence.

These countries and regions are Australia (excluding Victoria state), Macau, mainland China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

Travellers from these places will be tested before the end of the isolation period, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, the 13 imported cases reported on Friday came from India, the Philippines and the UK.

All the cases have been placed on 14-day SHN upon their arrival in Singapore and have been tested while they serve their isolation period.

A total of 532 COVID-19 patients were discharged after recovery from hospitals and various isolation facilities on Friday, taking the national tally of those who have recovered from the disease to 53,651.

There are currently 72 confirmed cases who are still in hospitals with most of them being stable or improving, while 2,466 are isolated and cared for at community facilities for mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.