Singapore on track to ease curbs: Experts
As more are vaccinated, event sizes and capacity limits may rise from Thursday
Singapore is on track to further ease its Covid-19 measures this week, experts say, as more people are vaccinated and there are adequate healthcare resources to care for those with severe infections.
Dr Noel Yeo, chief operating officer for healthcare services network IHH Healthcare Singapore, said: "About 75 per cent of our total population have completed full vaccination while the numbers of new daily cases and hospitalised cases, including patients requiring oxygen and intensive care, are on the decline."
IHH Healthcare Singapore operates hospitals such as Mount Elizabeth and Gleneagles.
Dr Yeo said: "The Covid-19 situation in Singapore appears under control and (the country is) prepared for further increases in event sizes and capacity limits from Thursday."
The Government had said that if all goes well, event sizes and capacity limits for activities such as congregational and other worship services, cinemas, cruises and malls would be increased from Thursday.
Work-from-home requirements will also be eased, with up to 50 per cent of employees who are able to work from home allowed to return to the workplace.
Professor Teo Yik Ying, dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore, noted that public health measures are not being lifted all at once.
Measures such as mandatory mask wearing and border controls will help to minimise transmissions in the community.
Prof Teo said: "The high percentage of fully vaccinated people in the population means... the impact to the health of the individuals, as well as to the health system, is minimal, as long as the vast majority of these infections happen in people who have been vaccinated."
If larger-scale events are allowed to go ahead from Thursday, it would mark the second of a two-step approach to reopening after stricter rules were imposed on July 22 in response to a surge in local cases. The first step kicked in on Aug 10, with dining out allowed again and vaccinated people allowed to gather in groups of up to five.
Asked whether the cycle of tightening and relaxing of measures would continue, experts said this depends on the impact of infections on healthcare systems.
Professor Dale Fisher, a senior consultant in infectious diseases at the National University Hospital, said that while daily case numbers have fallen since the recent easing of restrictions, it would only be "a matter of time" before they increase again.
He said: "The most important metric is severe illness. The number of cases requiring oxygen or intensive care remains flat, and our belief and hope is that we don't see this climb too much as case numbers grow."
For now, data has shown that vaccines used in Singapore are effective against severe disease and deaths caused by Covid-19, said Prof Teo.
But new variants of the coronavirus can challenge the present vaccines, he added.
Associate Professor Alex Cook, also from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, agreed.
"Any future tightening should not be to get cases under control or buy time, but to get severe disease under control," he said. "If the intensive care unit capacity is coming under threat... then there is a valid case to be made to implement another circuit breaker to head that risk off."
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
