SINGAPORE – Singapore’s Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said the country was “quietly confident” in handling the highly infectious omicron variant, despite the recent surge in Covid cases the country recorded in last week.
The city government may even consider easing restrictions as the latest wave rolls over, said the minister and co-chair of the nation’s Covid-19 task force.
“We are quietly confident in dealing with this omicron wave,” he told CNBC’s Martin Soong on Monday.
“The infection numbers are [at an] all-time high and may even exceed 20,000. But because of our very high vaccination rate boosters, the majority of those infected have milder symptoms. “
Singapore reported a record 19,420 cases of Covid on February 15.
Wong said the city government is working towards easing Covid restrictions once the omicron wave subsides.
We can never rule out the fact that it could be a more dangerous or deadly variant. So we just have to be prepared for that.
Lawrence Wong
Singapore Finance Minister
The minister added that the country’s hospitals and intensive care units are not overwhelmed by the recent spike in cases and the public health system is under control.
“If this situation continues like this, we believe we will be able to take some decisive steps towards easing. Once we have passed the current peak of the omicron wave,” he said.
End of pandemic?
Wong also said that if the new Covid mutations turn out to be milder than omicrons, that would provide a degree of confidence that the pandemic may be coming to an end.
He acknowledged that the world will continue to encounter variations and mutations of Covid in the near future, and said Singapore will closely monitor the global situation.
“Hopefully when that new mutation hits the world, it’ll be lighter than omicrons,” Wong told CNBC. And I think that gives us confidence that we’re seeing the end of the ocean. Translate”.
“But we can never rule out the fact that it could be a more dangerous or lethal variant. So we just have to be prepared for that,” he said.
As part of the Covid strategy, Singapore will maintain “vaccinations, boosters and treatments”, which have so far proven effective in helping life return to normal, the Minister said. know.
Singapore has recorded 13,623 new Covid-19 cases as of noon on Monday, including 13,476 domestic cases and 147 imported cases. according to the official statistics of the Ministry of Health. There were seven deaths, bringing the total number of deaths from complications of the coronavirus to 952.
About 94% of the eligible population completed the full vaccination regimen and 66% received a booster vaccine, the figures show.
