S’pore Must Brace For 2nd Wave Of Covid-19 Infections Even If Unlinked Cases Are Low Now

Spike Of Covid-19 Cases In Other Countries Sign Singapore Must Prepare

While unlinked Covid-19 cases remain low in Singapore, authorities say we must still prepare for a possible 2nd wave of infections, they said during a virtual press conference on Friday (17 Jul).

This is because various countries are seeing a resurgence in infections, and Singapore must remain cautious.

Cases in other countries spiked

According to Channel NewsAsia, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong cited the following countries as having a spike in cases after reopening:

• Australia
• South Korea
• Japan
• Hong Kong

They’d relaxed restrictions, but soon found themselves with more cases, with clusters primarily coming from the following places:

• religious events
• nightlife establishments
• restaurants
• schools

Because of this, Singapore has taken a cautious approach in reopening certain places like nightlife establishments and religious gatherings.

Source

Mr Gan said:

We must be prepared for a second wave too, but we must do our best to avoid it if we can

Meanwhile, authorities also implemented measures at workplaces, which might cause some inconvenience but also increases safety.

Unlinked cases remain low, authorities monitoring

While MOH are testing and isolating close contacts aggressively, the number of unlinked cases are being monitored.

Around 7 in 10 unlinked cases are asymptomatic, picked up through proactive screening, and nearly half were likely to be earlier infections as they show no symptoms.

Source

On the other hand, symptomatic unlinked cases are of concern to authorities, and if these cases rise, Singapore may see a 2nd wave of infection.

Authorities confident Singaporeans can beat Covid-19

Regardless, MOH director of medical services Kenneth Mak is confident that Singaporeans can beat the virus.

This is as long as everyone plays their part and comply with restrictions.

Even though it’s Phase 2, there are an average of around 12 cases a day over the past week, which is quite low.

There may well still be a spike in cases like in other countries, but if we do our part, we may soon celebrate — though not in huge gatherings.

Featured image by MS News.