Sharp spike in Singapore's COVID-19 cases ‘worrying’, next 2 to 4 weeks will be crucial: Gan Kim Yong
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Sharp spike in Singapore'southward COVID-xix cases 'worrying', adjacent 2 to 4 weeks will be crucial: Gan Kim Yong
Daily COVID-19 cases in Singapore will accomplish 1,000 very soon, says co-chair Lawrence Wong.
Office workers wearing protective confront masks cantankerous the road at Raffles Place on Sep 6, 2021. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
SINGAPORE: While the rise in COVID-19 cases is expected as Singapore opens upward, the sharp rate of increase is "worrying", said co-chair of the multi-ministry task strength Gan Kim Yong on Friday (Sep 10).
The number of daily cases has doubled since terminal week, with 450 new infections reported on Thursday, he noted.
"While we expected an increase in the number of cases every solar day when we open up up, the sharp rate of increment is worrying," said Mr Gan at a press conference.
"Although our vaccination rate has now surpassed that of many countries and is one of the highest in the world, nosotros want to exist sure that the number of cases will not of a sudden spike, which can lead to more serious cases, and which will, in turn, overwhelm our healthcare system."
This is the first fourth dimension Singapore is experiencing an "exponentially rising" wave of infection in the customs, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a media release.
"All countries that accept opened up accept had to bargain with such waves. For usa, information technology's happening faster than we had expected," said co-chair of the chore force Lawrence Wong at the printing briefing.
"Very soon, we will reach 1,000 cases a day. And in a few weeks' fourth dimension, nosotros will probably go to 2,000 new cases a 24-hour interval.
"And that's why we have to take a more cautious approach in the electric current situation and brand certain that we conform quickly to this fluid and rapidly changing infection situation."
Countries like Israel and the United Kingdom have seen a sharp spike in cases afterward easing their COVID-19 measures, despite high vaccination coverage, Mr Gan noted.
"Therefore we want to exist cautious and give ourselves more time to be certain that a high number of daily cases will not result in a high number of serious cases or deaths," he said.
"The adjacent two to four weeks is therefore crucial, equally we will detect out if patients somewhen develop serious illnesses and complications after."
Every bit of Th, 664 COVID-nineteen patients are warded in hospitals, of which 26 are cases of serious illness who require oxygen support in the general ward. Some other vii are in critical condition in the ICU, said MOH's director for medical services Acquaintance Professor Kenneth Mak.
"We sympathize that the rapid increase in infection numbers have created some business and feet among our people," said Mr Gan, noting the measures announced earlier this week are aimed at slowing downwards the spike in cases.
"Since then, there accept also been questions well-nigh whether the Authorities is going back on our plan to reopen despite our high vaccination rates," he added.
"While I empathize that many would prefer a straighter road to COVID-nineteen resilience, we have said before that we must expect some twists and turns along the way, given the unpredictability of the virus. So we need to exist prepared to adjust our plans as nosotros go forth."
Health Government minister Ong Ye Kung said Singapore is sticking to its course for now on a transition towards endemic living.
"Every bit far as possible, we don't want to reverse course in our transition programme," said Mr Ong.
"Nosotros need to monitor the incidences of severe illnesses and deaths closely, in the coming 2, three, four weeks. And so let us navigate this wave first before we embark on further steps to reopen. For at present, we are not reversing, we still want to progress on our transitioning journey. But we're not racing ahead, nosotros are actively responding, watching and monitoring."
UPDATES TO HEALTHCARE PROTOCOLS, BOOSTER JABS
The "well-nigh immediate job" is to reconfigure healthcare protocols then that Singapore can cope with the current level of infections, said MOH in its media release.
This includes stepping up testing, every bit previously announced.
"This is especially important to avoid spikes in the number of cases," said Mr Gan. "This is also important for businesses as infections that are caught early are less probable to see large clusters, which will, in turn, create severe disruptions to business concern operations."
Booster jabs were announced for seniors aged 60 and above and residents of aged-care facilities who have completed their vaccination regimen at to the lowest degree six months agone.
The ministers also stressed the importance of vaccination, saying there is "strong evidence" that this protects people confronting serious illness.
Among the infected cases, the percent of those unvaccinated who became severely sick or died was 5.2 per cent, while that of those who were fully vaccinated was 0.8 per cent, said Assoc Prof Mak.
"This means that if you are still not fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, you will accept … 6.5 times a college likelihood of getting a severe infection or a bad outcome, compared to a fully vaccinated person," he added.
Commenting on the rise in COVID-19 cases, Assoc Prof Mak said the doubling of new infections every week reflects an ongoing community spread that has taken place as Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) measures were relaxed.
With more than social interactions taking place, MOH has found COVID-19 transmissions at the workplace, social and household settings, contributing to big clusters similar the ones at Bugis Junction and bus interchanges.
"These transmissions may have been facilitated by the increase in mask-off, close physical interactions occurring betwixt individuals and amongst groups of people," said Assoc Prof Mak.
"There were also breaches in safe direction measures and poor compliance in mask-wearing requirements in some of these cases, that maybe further contributed to the spread."
DELTA VARIANT
The Delta variant is currently the dominant strain causing infection in the community, Assoc Prof Mak said, every bit found in phylogenetic testing of cases.
"This is driving the present, rapid ascent in infections," he said, noting that Delta is "highly infectious and transmissible" compared to other variants encountered in the terminal xx months.
"We've seen a number of super spreading events arise this year related merely to the Delta variant, with multiple generations of spread amidst different geographic settings," he said, adding that this includes the Jurong Fishery Port cluster.
The National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) has also institute that people infected with the Delta variant may have high viral loads at an early stage of their infections, said Assoc Prof Mak.
"And this is particularly for unvaccinated but infected cases, and they have more prolonged shedding of the virus, compared to the other variants. This does contribute to the overall increased transmissibility seen with this variant."
Responding to a question about whether the task force is confident that the public will voluntarily modify their behaviour to reduce the spread of the virus despite some COVID-19 fatigue, Mr Wong said that authorities empathize that in that location is fatigue, but people are concerned about their health and safety.
"And that's why we are not making a return to the heightened alert, because there is tremendous fatigue … Our focus is non the daily numbers, but we're looking at the hospital system and therefore with a high vaccination rate, in that location is no need to go back at this time to a heightened alert," he added.
Mr Wong urged Singaporeans to cooperate and comply with prophylactic management measures and showtime a new habit of regular, pervasive testing.
"It's actually in the interest in all of u.s. to exercise that," he said.
For example, companies that get their employees tested regularly can reduce their chances of the business being shut downward considering of a COVID-19 cluster, and individuals who test themselves regularly will know if they are asymptomatic carriers earlier visiting loved ones, said Mr Wong.
The multi-ministry task force does not accept the support of Singaporeans "for granted", said Mr Gan.
"We are very appreciative that nosotros have been able to come up then far considering of the trust between the people and the Authorities and considering of the support that people have for our various measures," he added.
"Some of the measures can be very difficult and challenging, but they comply with them. Nosotros fully understand that sometimes the frustration that we are not able to open upwardly as fast as we would like to."
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