Covid-19 Cases In S’pore Community Shows Promising Signs Of “Moderation” Amid Spike In Dormitories

Minister Lawrence Wong Shares Comprehensive Breakdown Curves With Improvements In Community & Imported Covid-19 Cases

The past few days have seen sky-high numbers of new Covid-19 cases in Singapore daily.

Just yesterday (12 Apr), 233 new cases were reported of which the majority are unlinked.

With numbers like these, some may have doubts over the effectiveness of the ‘Circuit Breaker’ that kicked in last week.

However, in a Facebook post on Monday (13 Apr) by Minister of National Development, Lawrence Wong, there seem to be signs that it’is already working.

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Based on epidemic curves Minister Wong shared, while the Coivd-19 cases in dormitories have surged, the number of cases in the community appears to be decreasing.

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Imported & community cases have slowed on the curves

Using the graph, Mr Wong explains that there has been a stark fall in both imported and community cases recently.

The graph in blue below represents imported cases while the one in orange is reflective of the community cases, excluding work permit holders and residents in dormitories.

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Most notably, cases in the community have declined significantly over the past week, which Minister Wong attributed to the safe-distancing measures implemented.

The number of imported cases. too, has seen a conspicuous drop as of late.

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While numbers were at an all-time high last month, it is attributed to the barrage of people returning amid the outbreak. The number of new imported cases has been 0 for the past few days.

Dormitory cluster is reason for recent spike

Even as the number of imported and community cases drop, there has been a recent spike in Covid-19 cases linked to worker dormitories.

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Several dormitories have since emerged as new clusters, with the largest one at S11 Dormitory @ Punggol currently linked to 365 cases.

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Reports revealed poor living conditions and a lack of social distancing, explaining the surge in Covid-19 positives.

However, Mr Wong reassures the public that the government is actively tackling the situation and has a “comprehensive strategy” to do so.

Painful measures are working to flatten the curves

As scary as recent statistics are, looking at the numbers objectively broken down does offer some comfort.

Seeing as how the dormitory cases are the main contributor to the surge, there is a good chance we can overcome this pandemic if that is contained and if we minimise cross-infection with others in the larger community.

This might also show that the stringent safe-distancing measures are already bearing fruit.

So let’s continue bearing with it for the time being. Hopefully, our lives can resume some semblance of normalcy after the ‘Circuit Breaker’ is over.

Featured image adapted from Stacked Homes.