COVID-19 wave possibly peaked, mask mandate not necessary: Ong Ye Kung

SINGAPORE: The latest wave of COVID-19 cases in Singapore has possibly peaked, and there is no need for additional measures, like a mask mandate, to be implemented, said Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung on Friday (Dec 22).

However, having about 600 to 700 hospital beds taken up by COVID-19 patients is quite a strain on the system, Mr Ong noted at the soft opening of the Woodlands Health Campus.

"We are a 10,000 bed-strong system. To take up 600 or 700 beds, it's six, seven per cent, which is not small. It's a significant workload on our healthcare workers and our system."

"Nevertheless, I think our assessment remains ... that we can withstand this without additional SMMs (safe management measures)," said Mr Ong.

Mr Ong added that estimated infection numbers have come down over the past few days.

"The indications are that we have plateaued," he said.

The Health Minister also acknowledged that the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays will bring chances for the virus to spread.

"We might have a slight surge, but I think more or less, we are seeing the peak of this wave."

The number of new COVID-19 hospitalisations in Singapore jumped to 965 in the past week, up from 763 the previous week, with those admitted to intensive care units (ICU) going up from 23 to 32 in the same period.

These were the highest numbers of new weekly hospitalisations and ICU admissions for COVID-19 patients in 2023.

Mr Ong encouraged Singaporeans to exercise personal responsibility by wearing a mask when sick and staying at home and continuing to be up to date with vaccinations.

It is especially important for seniors or those with underlying illnesses to receive their vaccination once a year as they are particularly vulnerable, he added.

Vaccines wear off within one to 1.5 years, said Mr Ong.

He said that MOH will work to improve the availability of vaccines by increasing the number of general practitioners (GPs) that administer COVID-19 vaccines and having it be part of the Healthier SG programme.

COVID-19 TRENDS

The seven-day moving average estimated daily number of COVID-19 cases in Singapore has been dropping in recent days, decreasing from 7,730 on Dec 17 to 6,820 the following day and then 6,530 cases on Dec 19. 

"Healthcare utilisation indicators such as hospitalised and ICU cases typically lag behind the estimated weekly number of infections," said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on its website. 

"This is due to the time taken for symptoms to develop in COVID-19 patients." 

Amid the spike in COVID-19 infections here, MOH last week strongly urged the public to wear a mask in crowded places even if they are not sick as it announced the building of a second COVID-19 treatment facility located at Singapore Expo Hall 10. 

MOH also announced that starting Dec 19, it will be giving daily updates on COVID-19 cases on its website to provide the latest information during this period of surge in cases.

MOH's figures on Thursday also show that the average daily hospitalised cases recorded are also the highest for the year. The 560 cases are up from 350 cases the previous week and 225 the week before that.

Average daily ICU cases follow the same pattern, rising to 13 cases from nine the previous week and four two weeks ago.