Daily infections likely to exceed 1,000

Busy day: Office workers during lunch break at the central business district in Singapore, where daily cases rose from 76 to 288 in the past week. — Reuters

THE sharp rate of increase in local Covid-19 cases is worrying and the next two to four weeks will be crucial in terms of whether higher infection numbers will lead to more serious cases and deaths, said Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong.

The average daily number of Covid-19 cases has risen from 76 two weeks ago to 288 in the past week.

The Health Ministry (MOH) expects this figure to exceed 1,000 soon, with more cases picked up through intensified testing.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Gan noted that many people have asked if the government is going back on plans to reopen the economy despite Singapore’s high vaccination rates.

About 81% of the population has been fully vaccinated.

These concerns arose after Finance Minister Lawrence Wong on Monday urged Singaporeans to reduce non-essential social activities for the next two weeks as Covid-19 cases spiked.

“While we understand that many prefer a straighter road to Covid-19 resilience, we have said before that we must expect twists and turns along the way,” Gan said. “Given the unpredictability of the virus, we need to be prepared.”

He added that Singapore will continue to push for higher vaccine coverage, even as it speeds up the rollout of booster shots and testing.

In response to the surge in cases, the country will change the way it tracks down and manages Covid-19 patients.

It will focus its contact tracing and quarantine efforts on large clusters and vulnerable settings such as hospitals, as growing infections make it difficult for contact tracers to keep up with every case.

The quarantine period from 14 days to 10 days from next week, as the Delta variant – the most dominant strain in Singapore – has a shorter incubation period than the original “wild-type” virus.

Vaccinated patients will also be discharged as early as seven days into their illness – down from if they have very low or undetectable viral loads, meaning that they are no longer infectious.

And a pilot scheme for fully vaccinated patients to recover at home, which was set up on Aug 30 and originally intended to run a month, will be expanded from Sept 15.

During the press conference by the multi-ministry task force tackling the pandemic in Singapore, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said the experience of other countries has demonstrated that transmission waves typically take four to eight weeks to peak before numbers start to decline, he said.

As Singapore is now 18 days into the current wave, it is likely to see cases increase exponentially, potentially hitting a peak of around 3,000 before it begins to stabilise.

But how this actually unfolds will depend on what Singaporeans do collectively – including whether it tests extensively, Ong said.

The higher numbers mean Singapore must be cautious, said Wong, who co-chairs the task force with Gan and Ong.

While there is no need to return to stricter measures, it is also not prudent to press ahead with further reopening measures, he added.

“During this period, especially when we are in the midst of an exponential rise in cases, that would be a reckless thing to do.” — The Straits Times/ANN