SINGAPORE — Singapore’s latest spike in Covid cases could also be beginning to peak — but the general public must not sleep to this point on vaccinations, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung told CNBC on Thursday.
Singapore reported 56,043 Covid cases within the week of Dec. 3 to 9, marking a 75% surge in comparison with the week before. The previous high recorded was 28,410 infections within the week of March 26.
Covid infections appear to have plateaued over the past week because the seven-day moving average dropped from 7,870 on Dec. 12 to six,530 on Dec. 19.
“It could get barely worse before it gets higher. All indications [are] that we could have possibly peaked. So probably that is about it,” Ong told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”
A latest Covid strain, the JN.1 variant, which has been classified as a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization, accounts for the “overwhelming majority” of the country’s latest wave of infections. WHO maintains that available evidence suggests the variant doesn’t present “additional public health risks” increased in comparison with other circulating variants.
Asked if it is a surprise that the variant appears to be “less impactful” than earlier strains, Ong said the brand new Covid variants usually are not evidently mild, but vaccinations have helped the country to tackle the wave.
TOPSHOT – People pass by as town skyline is reflected in a puddle leftover from earlier rain in Singapore on February 8, 2022. (Photo by Roslan RAHMAN / AFP) (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Roslan Rahman | Afp | Getty Images
“The virus has not gotten more mild… We have gotten stronger because we got infected, we took the vaccination,” Ong said.
“But all these antidotes will wane. Twelve months, 18 months, 24 months, it is going to wane… We must always brace ourselves for Covid getting more serious unless we proceed to get vaccinations,” he said.
Along with vaccination and booster shots — the country’s “primary defense” against Covid — the health ministry has also urged the general public to wear masks in crowded spaces even in the event that they usually are not sick, particularly within the airport and other indoor settings.
In response to the ministry, hospitalization rates are still “considerably lower” amongst those that are up-to-date with their vaccinations in comparison with those that haven’t.
Ong maintained that the variety of hospitalizations remain a key metric to look at. The typical every day Covid hospitalizations rose to 350 from 225, a report published on Dec. 15 showed.
“I believe it’s crucial metric now to look at, which is what number of [hospital] beds are taken,” he said.
Singapore exited the acute phase of Covid in February and entered the endemic norm. The island-nation subsequently scrapped mandatory mask-wearing on public transport and indoor health-care settings, amongst other community measures akin to working from home protocols and limits on group sizes.
