The Ministry of Health mentioned in a statement on Saturday that they’re closely tracking this wave. he said the estimated number of COVID-19 cases almost doubled to 25,900 during the week of May 5 to 11. Compared with the previous period, they were almost doubled in the prior period it’s 13,700.
The Ministry said that the average daily COVID-19 hospitalizations went up to about 250 from 181 during the same period. So, the ministry asked the public hospitals to reduce their non-urgent elective surgery cases and move suitable patients to care facilities. This will protect hospital bed capacity.
According to a Straits Times report, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung mentioned “We are at the beginning part of the wave where it is steadily rising.”
The wave is expected to reach its peak in the next two to four weeks, which means it could happen between the middle and end of June,” Ong added.
The New Variant FLiRT
There’s a new set of COVID variants called FLiRT, which are behind the surge of COVID-19 cases in Singapore. According to regional news reports, currently, two variants called, KP.1 and KP.2 make up more than two-thirds of cases in Singapore.
The World Health Organisation has classified KP.2 as a variant under monitoring since May 3. There are currently no indications, globally or locally, that both KP.1 and KP.2 don’t seem to be more transmissible or cause more severe disease compared to other circulating variants, the Ministry of Health said.
The Ministry added that since COVID-19 vaccination began in 2020 to 2021, the vaccines have consistently been proven to be safe and effective in protecting individuals from severe illness. Billions of doses have been given worldwide, and international safety monitoring has shown that the vaccine is safe.
There haven’t been any long-term safety concerns with COVID-19 vaccination. They reassured that any adverse effects from the vaccines, including the mRNA vaccines, have been observed to occur shortly after vaccination.