Singapore to face next COVID wave soon: Ong Ye Kung & More News Here

SINGAPORE — Singapore will face its next wave of COVID-19 infections in a “matter of months”, as early as July or August, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Thursday (2 June).

The country confirmed its first three cases of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants, which were first detected in South Africa, two weeks ago.

Addressing healthcare workers at his ministry’s annual work plan seminar, Ong said while the impending wave is something Singapore can “journey by”, it must remain prepared for any outcome.

“We cannot afford another situation like (the previous) Omicron (wave) where many healthcare settings are unable to handle COVID-19 patients and they have to send to our hospitals,” he said.

To ease the pressure on Singapore’s healthcare system once the next wave hits, Singapore needs to make sure that healthcare facilities can handle the COVID-19 patient load and prepare more hospital beds.

With hospitals rolling out home care services, beds are freed up for COVID-19 patients who require hospitalisation.

If Singapore can ramp up the number of nursing home beds, long-term hospital patients waiting to be placed in such homes can be moved there, Ong said.

The country also needs to change how its community treatment facilities work, he added. Set up last year, these facilities look after elderly COVID-19 patients who are medically stable but require closer monitoring.

They must be redesigned to take in patients who do not require the acute care that a hospital provides, regardless of their illness, Ong said.

Booster vaccination remains key for eligible seniors aged 60 and above as the age group is “most susceptible” to COVID-19, according to Ong. Some 12 per cent of these seniors have not done so.

Part of the reasons why Singapore can afford to be “quietly optimistic” in its COVID-19 fight is because of its high vaccination coverage and mask-on rules, Ong noted. With vaccination, most cases recover from the coronavirus disease “uneventfully”, he added.

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To date, 1,310,616 COVID-19 cases have been recorded in Singapore, with 1,389 deaths due to the disease.

As of Wednesday, 92 per cent of the city-state’s total population have completed their full COVID-19 vaccine regimen, while 76 per cent have received their booster shots.

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