Singapore Expects A New Covid Wave With Increased Travel And Year-End Festivities

Singapore expects a new surge of Covid-19 as tourism has resumed and the year-end festivities are near.

With more people travelling, and year-end festivities coming up, people living in Singapore should expect a new wave of Covid-19 infections, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung has said. "...there are bound to be more infections, but it is not something we have never seen before," the Straits Times quoted the minister as saying.

Speaking at an event held in a local college on Sunday, Ong said: “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. So there will be a new wave."

The BA.2 Omicron variant peaked in Singapore in March, and the BA.5 sub-variant in June and July. Then came the XBB variant in October and November.

Ong said it was more important to monitor the developments overseas, as a new variant of concern could emerge with winter hitting the Northern Hemisphere.

His concerns were in line with the September predictions of the European Union’s drug agency that entirely new variants of Covid-19 could emerge this winter, which could be similar to the earlier Omicron strains.

Singapore reported as many as 1,052 new Covid cases on Saturday, bringing the total tally to 2,171,550.

Eye On China

Ong also said developments in China would also matter. “When China opens up more – it looks like they are shifting their policy – and if they do so, then there are bound to be more infections. You can see that more and more people are infected in China and when that happens, given the density and enormous population of China, there are bound to be new variants,” he said, according to the Straits Times report. 

On the city-state's response plan, the minister said Singapore would open up further "whenever we can open". He said life had almost gone back to normal for the people of Singapore with very few Covid-19 rules remaining in force.

Wearing masks is no longer mandatory in Singapore, except on public transport, at healthcare facilities and residential care homes, though the health authorities have advised people to wear masks in crowded places.