SINGAPORE – The existing wave of COVID-19 infections is through the XBB subvariant and is expected to peak at 15,000 cases on average through mid-November.
But the government is not ruling out bringing back stricter mask regulations or differentiated protective control measures (VDS) through vaccination if necessary, such as requiring restaurant diners to be fully vaccinated.
The Ministry of Health said that public hospitals here have already used measures, such as postponing non-urgent admissions, to provide another two hundred beds to treat covid-19 patients.
“Most likely, this is a short, sharp wave caused by XBB, but largely contributed through reinfections,” Health Minister Ong Ye Kung told a news conference.
Singapore strives never to return to the restrictions of the circuit breaker era in the early stages of the pandemic in 2020, Mr. NGO said, suggesting Singaporeans take on private tasks and track vaccines amid the new wave of infections.
But the return of stricter mask mandates or other control measures cannot be ruled out, he added.
“Maybe we’ll put the mask back on, say inside, or inside and outside, if the stage calls for it. . . We would possibly want to place the VDS at a suitable point to protect those who are not awake. “up to date with their vaccinations,” Ong said.
In the meantime, seniors and other immunocompromised people are urged to continue wearing masks in crowded indoor environments.
The Ministry of Health also suggested members of the public move to hospital emergency departments in case of emergency.
To ease the burden on general medicine clinics and polyclinics here, employers are suggested to require a medical certificate from workers who have tested positive for Covid-19 or who exhibit symptoms of acute respiratory infection.
“This is to prevent patients with mild or no symptoms from unnecessarily visiting GP clinics, which would compromise the quality of care for other patients requiring medical care,” the fitness ministry said.
Those who are fine are encouraged to work from home if they can, while those with mild flu-like symptoms are also advised to teleconsult with their doctor.
The overall adult bed occupancy rate in hospitals through midweek is around 93 percent, Singapore’s director of medical services, Kenneth Mak, said at Saturday’s press conference.
To ensure there are enough beds to meet the growing demand for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 hospitalizations, public hospitals have been told to reduce non-urgent clinical pictures in elective hospitalization.
It’s about giving hospitals more flexibility in their capacity, said Associate Professor Mak.
The XBB Omicron subvariant, also known as BA. 2. 10, is lately the leading cause of Covid-19 infections in Singapore. During the week of October 3-9, it accounted for 54% of Covid-19 cases.
While XBB is at least as transmissible as the strains circulating lately, adding BA. 5 and BA. 2. 75, which account for 21% and 24% of local cases, respectively, the Health Ministry said there is no evidence that it causes more severe disease. .
However, there is evidence that XBB is possibly to blame for a backlog of reinfections, which lately account for about 17% of the total number of new cases.
8,763 new Covid-19 infections were recorded on October 14, down from the recent peak of 11,399 cases on October 11.
The Health Ministry said the backlog of hospitalized cases remains proportional to the accumulation in the total number of local cases.
As of October 14, there were 562 Covid-19 patients hospitalized, 44 requiring supplemental oxygen and in intensive care.
This is compared to 365, 37 and thirteen respectively a week ago, and despite the seven-day moving average of local instances nearly doubling from 4714 to 7716 during the same period.
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