Health Minister: We’re Heading in the Right Direction As Unlinked Cases Fall

As we enter the final stretch before the end of Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) on 13 June, all of us are probably praying desperately for an uneventful week.

Please, let COVID-19 take leave like Prime Minister Lee.

But things are looking up, and Singapore seems on track to continue with reopening plans.

Even our Health Minister agrees with that.

Health Minister: We’re Heading in the Right Direction As Unlinked Cases Fall

And I mean, if the minister says so, there really may be light at the end of the tunnel.

In a Facebook post uploaded last night (6 Jun), Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that Singapore was “heading in the right direction”.

 

Mr Ong explained why Singapore’s situation is seemingly improving in further detail.

He first referenced the Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF)’s press conference on 31 May, where he mentioned that Singapore’s daily infection numbers could be categorised into three types:

1. Infections that are quarantined before detection
2. Infections that are not quarantined but linked to clusters
3. Infections that are unlinked

Evidently, the third type of infections is the most concerning, since it means that COVID-19 could be secretly lurking in the shadows, infecting people from left to right quietly while we scramble to find out the source of unlinked infections.

But the future isn’t all bleak. Just like how you may somehow still pass your final year exams despite flunking all your classes throughout the year, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

Mr Ong highlighted that over the past seven days, overall infections numbers have dropped further from the previous week.

The percentage of infections that were detected while the carriers were under quarantine has also increased from 57% to 73%. This is a hopeful sign because it implies lesser chances of the infected transmitting COVID-19 to other people.

Most encouragingly, Mr Ong pointed out that the percentage of unlinked cases has dropped from 18% to 15%. 3% may not seem like such a big deal, but we’ll take what we can get.

For those whose heads are spinning with all the numbers (read: me), fret not. Mr Ong has provided a little handwritten table for you to chart the numbers yourself (essentially, they’re still numbers… just in rows and columns):

I’m not good at Math, but these are the sexiest numbers I’ve seen in a while.

62,196 COVID-19 Cases in S’pore

So, what do our COVID-19 figures look like now?

Yesterday (6 Jun), Singapore recorded 20 new COVID-19 infections. Six were community infections, of which one was unlinked. The remaining 14 were imported cases.

Wow, we had more imported cases than community cases? Haven’t seen that in a while.

In fact, the six community cases were the lowest since 10 May, which had three community cases.

This brings the total number of cases in Singapore to 62,196.

There are currently 207 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Another 321 are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

33 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

Featured Image: Facebook (Ong Ye Kung)