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Travellers at Changi International Airport in Singapore. Photo: AFP

Coronavirus: Singapore eases travel restrictions despite expecting ‘significant wave’ of Omicron cases, predicting up to 15,000 a day

  • Reduction in isolation period for the fully vaccinated among eased measures, as officials shift focus away from headline infection numbers. But social-distancing measures will stay through Lunar New Year
  • News comes as health minister Ong Ye Kung suggests a tiny percentage of anti-vaxxers in the country are ‘free-riding’ on the goodwill of others
Singapore is to begin easing some Omicron-related travel and health-care rules despite projections by its virus task force that the city state is facing a “significant wave” that could bring up to 15,000 cases a day.

Under the relaxed measures announced on Friday, those infected who showed symptoms but were fully vaccinated would only have to isolate themselves for seven days instead of 10, while children could recover at home.

Meanwhile, incoming travellers using vaccinated travel lanes no longer have to undergo supervised swab tests. Those who have recently recovered from Covid-19 get to skip all testing when they travel.

Social-distancing measures, however, will remain through the Lunar New Year period and measures at hospitals and residential care homes will be tightened.

On Thursday, Singapore’s weekly Covid-19 infection growth rate rose to 2.17, the highest it has been since September 16 last year, when it was 2.25.

The news came as Singapore’s health minister Ong Ye Kung suggested a tiny percentage of anti-vaxxers in the country were “free-riding” on the goodwill of those who inoculated themselves against Covid-19.

Ong said about 120,000 people in Singapore above the age of 20 remained unvaccinated, though “very few” among this group were medically ineligible for the jabs.

Pedestrians pass the Merlion statue in Singapore. Photo: AP

Eighty-eight per cent of the country’s 5.45 million people have been fully vaccinated, while 54 per cent have received a booster shot. The republic, a global pacesetter in Covid-19 vaccinations, in late December began vaccinating children aged between 5 to 11 years.

Ong, one of the co-heads of the country’s Covid-19 task force, reiterated that unvaccinated people were the most likely to get severe cases of the disease and overwhelm the health-care system, adding that if it turned out that the number of severely ill unvaccinated was low, “the credit goes to the rest of the population”.

Ong said a majority of the country’s residents had vaccinated themselves even though “a significant number” of them worried about the vaccines. They had chosen to do their part for their families and the broader community, he said.

“Conversely, if everyone adopts the attitude that we need not get vaccinated because others will and then we free-ride on the rest, then our society will never have achieved the high level of resilience it has today,” Ong said.

The minister’s comments came days after new rules came into force stipulating that only fully vaccinated people – as well as those medically ineligible or recently recovered persons – could return to the workplace.

Singapore’s health minister Ong Ye Kung. Photo: Facebook

The Straits Times on Thursday reported that at least two religious organisations had appealed to the government for concessions relating to a similar vaccine differentiation policy that will come into effect for congregational worship services from February 1.

A government spokesman told the local daily that talks were continuing with the religious groups.

Ong also said the top-line infection data – such as the daily new infection count – was becoming “less and less meaningful” because vaccinations were working against the less severe Omicron variant.

Hong Kong’s ethnic minority leaders urge testing over Omicron fears

He said the statistics that mattered were the numbers of severely ill patients needing oxygen, the patients needing intensive care, and the number of deaths.

Of the 12,078 individuals infected with Omicron, fewer than 0.3 per cent require oxygen compared to 0.8 per cent for those who had Delta. Singapore has just 14 patients in the intensive care unit now, compared to 176 during its Delta peak.

A visitor uses the Trace Together contact-tracing app at a wet market in Singapore. Photo: Bloomberg

‘Significant wave’

Social-distancing measures, however, are not being relaxed. Virus task force co-chair Gan Kim Yong, also the trade minister, said the Omicron variant was more infectious and Singapore would soon see a “significant wave”.

The health ministry said cases could double every two to three days and projected the number could reach 10,000 to 15,000 cases a day.

Hence, those celebrating the upcoming Lunar New Year festivities would still be limited to having just five visitors to their homes a day, and eating out only in groups of fives.

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The city state was also tightening protocol at hospitals and residential care homes in a bid to protect vulnerable residents against the expected rise of Omicron cases, suspending visits for four weeks from next Monday.

Virus task force co-chair Lawrence Wong, also the finance minister, said it was not prudent to ease measures now.

Said Wong: “Once we have got through this wave and we have some confidence that the health care system is not overwhelmed, that indeed, the vast majority of cases are mild, they will not pack up hospital resources and the vast majority can recover at home, then we will have the ability and we will have some confidence to think ahead for the next round of opening up and to continue our journey of relaxing our measures.”

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