Health Minister Warns of Anticipated Increase in Cases Amid Holiday Gatherings
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung stated on Sunday (Dec 4) that with the upcoming holiday season encouraging more social interactions, an increase in COVID-19 infections is expected. “So there will be a new wave. But it is not something that we have not seen before,” he remarked to the media at Nanyang Junior College, during a Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) event.
In the past four weeks, Singapore has reported 44,571 new COVID-19 cases, with a staggering 99.7% of individuals either asymptomatic or experiencing mild symptoms. A minimal number—0.04% and 0.3% respectively—have required intensive care or oxygen support. The seven-day moving average of local cases currently stands at 1,023.
Ong highlighted that Singapore has experienced three waves of COVID-19 this year: the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant in April, the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants in July, and most recently, the surge driven by the XBB variant.
The Health Minister also emphasized the importance of monitoring COVID-19 trends in other countries, particularly those where winter may trigger an uptick in cases, as the emergence of new variants is possible. He specifically pointed out the developments in China, where recent lifting of COVID-19 restrictions has led to an increase in infections. “When China opens up more – it looks like they are shifting their policy – and if they do so, then there are bound to be more infections. You can see that more and more people are infected in China, and given the density and enormous population, there are bound to be new variants,” Ong warned.
