S’pore Isn’t Going to Exit Phase 3 Anytime Soon Due to Global COVID-19 Cases

By
Shawn Ambrose
-

There are a few compelling arguments you could make in favour of Singapore returning to pre-coronavirus life.

  1. We’ve secured enough vaccines for all residents
  2. We have a relatively low number of new COVID-19 cases every day
  3. We really, really want to

Surely, this is enough for us to exit Phase 3, right?

Sadly, the answer is a big fat nope.

S’pore Isn’t Going to Exit Phase 3 Anytime Soon Due to Global COVID-19 Cases

Singapore will not be exiting Phase 3 “anytime soon”, Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary said in Parliament on Thursday (25 Feb).

He pointed out that even in Phase 3, the country saw a rise in cases after the festive period, forcing us to tighten safe management measures.

While the coronavirus outbreaks in other countries have abated, Singapore has to remain  vigilant.

“We will continue to find ways to allow our economy and society to further reopen in a safe way. But given the dynamic situation here and around the world, we will need to adjust our safe management measures from time to time,” he said.

“We do not expect to move out of Phase 3 anytime soon.”

Instead, Phase 3 will be a “new normal” which we will only exit when three conditions are met, Dr Puthucheary said.

These include:

  1. Having evidence on vaccine effectiveness in preventing future outbreaks
  2. Vaccinating a substantial proportion of the population
  3. Ensuring that the rest of the world also has the virus under control

Still Waiting For Vaccine Data

Dr Puthucheary was responding to a question from Yio Chu Kang MP Yip Hon Weng, who also asked him if there’s a specific threshold set by the government for vaccine rates before the country can exit Phase 3.

In response, Dr Puthucheary said that while vaccines approved for use in Singapore are effective, more data on how effective they are in preventing transmission is needed.

The authorities are also closely monitoring the efficacy of vaccines against new strains of COVID-19.

Vaccines & Safe Management Measures Our Best Defence Against COVID-19

The senior minister said that our best strategy in the meantime is to continue to be disciplined about safe management measures and achieve a high level of vaccination within our population.

He noted that Singapore has made “good progress” on its vaccination programme and that the government is continuing to bring in more vaccine supplies.

“We encourage all eligible Singaporeans to take up the vaccines to protect themselves and others around them,” he said.

Feature Image: Cat Box / Shutterstock.com

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]