Singapore braces for daily cases to breach 1,000

Singapore’s health authorities are bracing for daily caseloads to breach the 1,000 mark, reaching as high as 3,000 cases as the city-state continues to witness a sharp rise in infections this week, The Straits Times reports.

Officials are also worried that any such rise would affect the republic’s much touted plans to reopen the economy after achieving herd immunity with more than 80% of its population fully vaccinated.

“Given the unpredictability of the virus, we need to be prepared to adjust our plans as we go along,” Trade Minister Gan Kim Yong said at a joint press conference with other ministers.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said based on the transmission trend of the virus, daily cases could see a surge of up to 3,000 at the peak before coming down.

Finance Minister Lawrence Wong meanwhile called for caution in reopening the economy, but said it should not return to earlier restrictions.

Singapore has seen an increase in cases for more than two weeks due to the highly contagious Delta variant.

Yesterday, it reported 450 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases, the most since early August 2020.

This was a steep increase from the 347 local cases logged the day before.

Singapore had recorded 56 deaths as of yesterday, with six people in intensive care.

The government was reported as predicting then as many as 2,000 daily cases in a month at the current trajectory.

However, the vast majority of Singapore’s new cases have been either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.