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Singapore reports 1,443 COVID-19 cases on Saturday
Earlier on Friday, Singapore's health ministry reported 1,650 new COVID-19 cases, the highest since the beginning of the pandemic.
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People pass the control tower of Singapore's Changi Airport, Singapore January 18, 2021.
(Reuters/Edgar Su)
Singapore on Saturday reports 1,443 COVID-19 cases, a decline in number compared to 1,650 infections the previous day.
Earlier on Friday, Singapore's health ministry reported 1,650 new COVID-19 cases, the highest since the beginning of the pandemic.
A recent rise in cases after the relaxation of some coronavirus measures has prompted Singapore to pause further reopening. More than 80 percent of its population has been vaccinated against the virus.
Singapore said it will tighten COVID-19 curbs to limit social gatherings to two people and make working from home a default, in a bid to contain a spike in infections and reduce pressure on the healthcare system.
Despite a rapid vaccination drive, the city-state has been seeing more than 1,000 daily cases this week, including 1,504 on Thursday, the highest number since the start of the pandemic.
In a statement on Friday, the health ministry said: "many COVID positive individuals with mild symptoms are seeking medical attention at our hospitals when it might not be necessary."
With 82 percent of the population fully vaccinated, about 98 percent of the coronavirus cases in the past four weeks had no or mild symptoms, it said in a report a day earlier.
Singapore ministers told a media briefing on Friday that the jump in COVID-19 cases in the island of 5.7 million people had put "tremendous" pressure on its healthcare system.
The latest curbs come into force on Monday and will run until Oct. 24.
Gan Kim Yong, trade minister and co-chair of the government's coronavirus taskforce, said it had been a "very difficult decision" to tighten curbs again due to the impact on businesses and people. But he told the briefing "it will allow us to slow down the speed of increase (in infections) and avoid overtaxing our healthcare workers."
Health officials said infections had been doubling every eight days, and without new measures could jump to 6,000 a day in a couple of weeks.
For mild COVID-19 cases, authorities are also trying to put in place arrangements for more people to recover at home and to scale up isolation facilities.
