Singapore must prep for but try avoiding second Covid-19 wave, says Gan Kim Yong

SINGAPORE must be prepared for a second wave of Covid-19 infection, although that can be avoided as long as residents remain vigilant and continue to behave responsibly, said Health Minister Gan Kim Yong on Friday.

His remarks came in the wake of a second round of coronavirus spread in Hong Kong, Australia and Japan, trends which have led the Singapore authorities to tweak incoming requirements for visitors with travel history to those areas.

In Singapore, the number of new community cases has averaged around 12 a day in the past week, similar to the count in the first week of July. Around half of community cases over the past two weeks were linked.

Of the unlinked cases, about seven in 10 were asymptomatic. Almost half were likely to be past infections, in that they tested positive under serology tests, said the taskforce managing the Covid-19 outbreak during a press conference.

A large proportion of unlinked community cases are from the construction and its related sectors, said Mr Gan, who co-chairs the taskforce.

He added that an average of 2,400 cases of acute respiratory infection are tested each day to detect Covid-19. Even with the rigorous testing, the number of unlinked Covid-19 cases detected in the community remains in the low single digits. "This suggests that the prevalence in the community remains low," he said.

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However, with the expansion of economic activities and heightened social interactions since the start of Phase 2, the number of Covid-19 cases are expected to rise.

Highlighting the situation in other countries, Mr Gan said: "We must be prepared for a second wave too, but we must do our best to avoid it if we can. There are useful lessons we can glean from their experience to avoid a similar scenario in Singapore."

A review of overseas case studies by the Ministry of Health found that in many instances of a resurgence in infections, safe-management and safe-distancing measures had not been adhered to.

For example, clusters were observed in Hong Kong where people failed to wear masks in restaurants and cafes. In South Korea, clusters formed at religious gatherings and in workplaces. Tokyo reported clusters traced to night-life establishments.

It is therefore imperative that Singaporeans remain responsible and adhere to safe-distancing rules, said Mr Gan. "The second wave is preventable if everyone plays their part, and I believe that if anyone can do it, Singaporeans can."

Asked whether there is a threshold for the number of community cases that would prompt a tightening of safe-distancing measures, Mr Gan said that the taskforce would need to determine whether the nature of transmission calls for such a move.

He said the number of symptomatic and unlinked community cases - detected through a routine screening for acute respiratory infection - is being closely watched.

"If these cases start rising, it could be an early signal that there may be an increase in the underlying transmission in the community."

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said the taskforce hopes to avoid another broad-based measure such as the nationwide circuit-breaker previously put in place.

Instead, it would consider more localised approaches, such as shutting down premises that it believes might be of higher risk, or putting in place localised control measures.

Giving an update on the situation in migrant-worker dormitories, Mr Wong said that the taskforce expects to finish testing all workers by mid-August.

As at July 16, around 232,000 workers had either recovered, or been tested and found free of the virus. Many of the workers being tested in the final phase are from dormitories with a higher prevalence rate, which resulted in the higher number of dormitory cases reported recently, said Mr Wong.

There are workers who have recovered, but have been unable to return to work because some residents in their dormitories or blocks are still being isolated. Additional decontamination measures will be implemented over the next week to enable these workers to leave the dormitories and resume work safely.

Given the risk of cases imported from overseas, travellers entering Singapore after July 19 who had travelled to Japan, Hong Kong and Victoria, Australia in the last 14 days will serve their stay-home notice in dedicated facilities instead of their own residence.

All travellers who left Singapore from March 27 despite the prevailing travel advisory, and travellers who are not Singapore citizens or permanent residents, are required to pay for their stay at dedicated stay-home notice facilities.