There’s Now a COVID-19 Wave in Singapore & More People Will be Infected in the Coming Weeks

Have you heard the bad news that the haze is back?

That’s not the only bad news around.

It seems that COVID-19 is back, too.

Oh, you thought it was a thing of the past? So did we. But it’s not.

There is a new COVID-19 wave in Singapore, and the Health Minister said that you should prepare that many people will be infected with it.

The good thing is that there are no plans for social restrictions as of now.

Here is more on what is happening with the COVID-19 situation in Singapore.

Another COVID-19 Wave Hits Singapore

As we move towards the end of the year and people start to travel and slow down their pace of life, it seems that some enjoyment may be hindered by the incoming COVID-19 wave.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung was at the official opening of the Stepping Stones Rehabilitation Centre and Serenity Centre at the Institute of Mental Health earlier this week and revealed some numbers about COVID-19 in Singapore.

Minister Ong said that “the estimated daily cases has risen from about 1,000 three weeks ago to 2,000 for the past two weeks”, reported Channel News Asia.

What variant is wreaking havoc now? There are two main culprits—the EG.5 and its sub-lineage HK.3.

Both variants are descendants of the XBB Omicron variant.

Oh gosh, Omicron really is a Medusa-like variant, isn’t it?

With the EG.5 and HK.3 variants accounting for over 75% of Singapore’s daily COVID-19 cases (shared by Minister Ong and reported Channel News Asia), Singapore will continue treating COVID-19 as “endemic”.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung Says That There Are No Plans for Social Restrictions Now

You may remember the word “endemic” from a while back when there was some debate about social restrictions in Singapore.

Those who treated COVID-19 as an endemic disease (such as the common cough or flu) propagated for social restrictions to be lifted and for us to live as if COVID-19 is nothing more than a disease that we have to accept in our daily lives.

The good thing is that Singapore is still viewing COVID-19 as endemic, so there are no plans at the moment to reimpose the strict social curbs we had to endure back then.

Minister Ong confirmed that there are no plans to impose social restrictions and urged the public not to panic because there is “no evidence to suggest that the new variants are more likely to lead to severe illnesses compared to previous variants”.

However, given the incoming wave and the expectation that more people will contract COVID-19 soon, he encouraged people to keep their “vaccination up to date”, which means a shot each year at minimum.

Are you ready to head to the doctor for another COVID-19 booster?