SINGAPORE, May 11 — The number of Covid-19 community cases in Singapore could “go either way” in the next few weeks, but there is a chance the country can get the situation under control by the end of the month, said Education Minister Lawrence Wong today (May 11).
Giving an update on the Covid-19 situation in Parliament, Wong said: “We are now on the knife’s edge and our community case numbers can go either way over the next few weeks.
“We have a chance of getting things under control by the end of the month. But as we know from experience, it only takes one lapse or one irresponsible action for an infection to happen; and that infection may end up being a super-spreader event in the community.”
To prevent the latter outcome, he said, residents should work from home, cut back on social activities and interactions, and stay home as much as possible during this period.
Community cases in the city-state have ticked up over the last few weeks with the emergence of new clusters, including one at Tan Tock Seng Hospital that has 43 cases.
Authorities have since tightened safe distancing measures, with Wong announcing last week that Singapore is returning to Phase Two of the post-circuit breaker reopening.
Singapore had been in Phase Three since December 28 last year.
Wong acknowledged that the tightening of safety measures is posing considerable inconvenience to Singaporeans.
Some community measures which have been curbed include reducing the maximum number of people who can gather from eight to five, and limiting social gatherings to two a day.
Wong noted that there are several public holidays in the month of May, and people have had to adjust their plans and activities.
“I know this must be very hard for our Malay-Muslim community ― having to observe these strict rules during Hari Raya and to curtail your normal family visits for a second year. Likewise for the Buddhist community during Vesak Day.
“I thank everyone for taking the latest measures in your stride and seek your cooperation to abide by the rules — not just with the letter of the law but also the spirit of it,” he said.
Wong noted, however, that Singapore is in a stronger position today than a year ago, especially with regard to testing and contact tracing.
About 35,000 swabs were tested everyday in the past week and the laboratories have the capacity to process up to 73,000 tests everyday, he said.
Singapore’s vaccination program is also a “major game changer,” he added.
Singapore is in a much safer position with most of Singapore’s older population, healthcare and frontline workers being vaccinated, he noted.
“Our experiences over the last year have shown that if we act swiftly to contact-trace, isolate, test, and if we all exercise individual and social responsibility, we can effectively suppress the spread of the virus. We’ve brought down infection rates in the community before, and we can do it again this time,” said Wong.
He also urged residents not to spread fake news that can cause needless fear or foster divisions and suspicions.
“Remember the virus does not respect ethnicity or nationality. This is not a Chinese virus or an Indian variant. This is a global pandemic ― the virus and its variants are out there everywhere in the world,” he said.
“There is no place for discrimination, racism or xenophobia here. This is not Singapore and what we stand for. We must continue to look out for each other, so that we can all get through this together.” ― TODAY
