Singapore to hold further relaxation in norms amid rising COVID cases: FM Lawrence Wong

Singapore’s Finance Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday, September 3, said that the nation will hold further steps to reopen the country while, it monitors an increase in daily Coronavirus cases. However, speaking at a news briefing, Wong added that Singapore sees no need to consider re-imposing heightened restrictions. He said that the nation had sufficient vaccine coverage to protect its citizens and the country was becoming more resilient in living with the virus. 

Wong, who also co-chair’s COVID-19 task force, said, “We do not intend to make any new opening moves at this juncture, because there is a time lag between the onset of infections to serious illness, and so we want to take some time to monitor the situation”. 

He added, “Also, we have recently announced a whole series of pilots, be it vaccinated travel or allowing our workers in the dormitories to be out in the community. So we want to allow these pilots to continue over the next few days and weeks before we contemplate further moves”. 

He said that a tightened posture would only be taken as a last resort to prevent hospitals from being overcrowded. FM Wong said that authorities will continue with aggressive testing and contact tracing to slow down transmission and avoid uncontrollable surges in cases that could easily overwhelm the hospital system. His comments come as Singapore reported 216 locally transmitted cases on Friday. 

Singapore becomes most vaccinated country

According to CNA, Ministry of Health director of medical services Kenneth Mak said that the rise in cases is “not unexpected” as Singapore resumes more activities. Mak said that there has not been a significant surge in the number of cases that require intensive care. He also added that there have been no new admissions to the intensive care unit since August 21. 

Meanwhile, earlier this week, Singapore recorded the highest vaccination rate in the world. According to the health ministry,  Singapore's 80 per cent of people out of its 5.7 million population have received their full regimen of anti-COVID shots, making it the first country to have the highest vaccinated population. The nation achieved the maximum vaccination target by implementing a “zero transmission mode”. Singapore handled the COVID-19 crisis efficiently, as the citizens strictly followed the COVID restrictions. 

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