Singapore is experiencing another COVID-19 infection wave, with more people expected to fall sick and be hospitalised in the coming weeks, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Friday (Oct 6).
However, he added that there are no plans to impose any social restrictions, as with the last wave which occurred from March to April.
Speaking at the official opening of the Stepping Stones Rehabilitation Centre and Serenity Centre at the Institute of Mental Health, Mr Ong revealed that the estimated daily cases has risen from about 1,000 three weeks ago to 2,000 for the past two weeks.
The spate of cases is driven by mostly two variants – the EG.5 and its sub-lineage HK.3 – both of which are descendants of the XBB Omicron variant.
“Together, they now account for over 75 per cent of our daily cases,” Mr Ong said.
During the peak in April, the number of infections rose to about 4,000 cases a day.
“We will treat this as an endemic disease, which is in line with our strategy, and we will live with it,” he said. “After all, there has been no evidence to suggest that the new variants are more likely to lead to severe illnesses compared to previous variants.
But he warned Singapore against lowering its guard against COVID-19.
“In the coming weeks, we should expect more people to fall sick, and if so, hospitalisations will go up. Waiting times will go up,” he said.
