Singapore recorded its highest daily increase earlier this week, with 386 new cases confirmed on 13 April.
We are now fighting COVID-19 on two distinct fronts — in the community and in foreign worker dormitories, said Dean, Professor Teo Yik Ying.
While the government has implemented more measures to curb further spread in the dorms, Prof Teo said that it will take some time to see the effects of these new measures. He foresees that the number of dorm-linked cases will continue to increase in the meantime.
On the community front (referring to cases not linked to foreign worker dormitories), Prof Teo is optimistic that the situation will improve.
“I’m actually optimistic that this front will start to show very encouraging results in the next 10 to 14 days, provided everyone cooperates and stays at home except absolutely necessary,” said Prof Teo.
While most are complying with the stricter ‘circuit breaker’ measures, Prof Teo stressed that it is crucial to remain vigilant even after this phase.
“It is important at this point to highlight [that] we really cannot afford to be overconfident and to prematurely declare victory over the outbreak, even if we start to see only very few community cases near the end or after the ‘circuit breaker’.
We must continue to remain vigilant. The situation can return and worsen, just as it did in the middle of March for us in Singapore.”
Prof Teo also said that more ‘circuit breaker’ periods may be needed until a vaccine is found.
“It will have to be a series of tapping on the brakes … once every three to four months, we may have to have a ‘circuit breaker’ just to allow the health system to recuperate,” he said during a webinar hosted by NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy on 14 April.
Media Coverage:
Read also: