The number of daily cases has been rapidly rising, and has doubled as compared to three weeks ago when it stood at about 1,000.

At peak of the pandemic, Singapore recorded up to 4,000 daily cases. The government had then imposed strict curbs, that mandated the wearing of masks and restricted public movement. However, no such restrictions are being planned to address the current surge in infections, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said, while speaking to the local media.

The government will treat this as an “endemic disease”, Kung added. Even as the minister indicated that there is no major health risk posed by the virus, he noted that hospitalisations may increase in the coming weeks as more people may fall sick.

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“…there has been no evidence to suggest that the new variants are more likely to lead to severe illnesses compared to previous variants,” Kung told Channel News Asia.

“All indications show that current vaccines continue to work well in protecting us against severe illnesses if infected by these new variants,” he added.

The spate of these recent cases is driven by mostly two variants – the EG.5 and its sub-lineage HK.3 – both of which are descendants of the XBB Omicron variant. “Together, they now account for over 75 per cent of our daily cases,” the minister said, while speaking to the news channel.

He shared findings from a Ministry of Health (MOH) study, which showed the incidence rate of severe illness recorded during the peak of Singapore’s last infection wave in April.

Among those who are “best protected” – those who have a minimum of three mRNA shots and a natural infection within the last 12 months – the severe illness incidence rate is about 10 per 100,000 people.

For the “least protected” group, or those who have no minimum protection and no recorded infection, they are five times more likely to fall very sick when infected with COVID-19. The incidence rate for such individuals is more than 50 in 100,000 people.

As per the data available with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Singapore recorded 2,594,809 confirmed cases since the onset of the pandemic till October 4, 2023, and the death toll in the country stood at 1,872.

(With PTI inputs)

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Updated: 06 Oct 2023, 09:31 PM IST