Expect A New Wave of COVID-19 Infections with Year-End Festivities & Travel: Ong Ye Kung

The festive season is just around the corner, and you know what that means.

Yup, meeting your friends and family as an excuse to stuff yourself with food.

And, of course, clearing your annual leave by travelling abroad during the year-end holidays.

New Wave of COVID-19 Infections Expected with Year-End Festivities and Travel

Unsurprisingly, the above also means that we can expect a new wave of COVID-19 infections, according to Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.

Let me elaborate.

Mr Ong said, “With more travel and with Christmas and the New Year coming and people going out, there are bound to be more infections, but it is not something we have never seen before.”

Lest you’ve been hiding under a rock this 2022 and have just returned to civilization, you would know that we have had three COVID-19 infection waves that “were all quite big”.

Here’s the full quote.

“This year alone, we have seen three infection waves which were all quite big. The first two were Omicron: BA.2, then BA.5 and then XBB,” said Mr Ong.

He assures Singaporeans and says that this new wave “is not something that we have not seen before.”

Need a recap?

In Singapore, the BA.2 Omicron peaked in March, and the BA.5 sub-variant resulted in infections in June and July. Lastly, the XBB variant was predominant in October and November.

Mr Ong asserts that it’s more important to keep an eye on developments abroad and be watchful of any new variant that might crop up when winter hits the Nothern Hemisphere.

Singapore Will Continue to Open Up Where Possible

Gone were the days where staycations and cruises to nowhere were our only options.

According to Mr Ong, Singapore is on track to open up and will continue to do so whenever possible.

“We are left with very few rules and pretty much life has gone back to normal. But where we can, we should take another step forward.”

Ah, I could get used to a world where bubble tea is an easily accessible commodity.

But Singapore’s continued opening isn’t something unexpected.

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Here’s a recap of Singapore’s stance towards COVID-19 as of late.

For one, non-COVID-19 and COVID-19 patients are now being placed in the same wards.

Not forgetting the fact that all COVID-19 vaccination differentiated measures were fully lifted on 10 October 2022.

What? Does this mean we can rip off our masks and prance around like a deer frolicking in a grassy haven?

Wrong.

If you want to avoid getting infected with COVID-19 and dampening your own holiday mood, it’s probably best to stick to wearing masks and using hand sanitizers.

Lest you want to risk ending up being this man who apparently had COVID-19 for 411 days. *shudders in ART test kits*

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Featured Image: Facebook (Ong Ye Kung), Unsplash