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SINGAPORE – Singapore’s Covid-19 cases in the community have been at an all-time low, with zero local cases for two weeks last month.
This has raised hopes that the Republic can bid farewell to the difficult year with a transition to phase three of its reopening, which would see further easing of restrictions, including allowing larger meetings.
However, the multi-ministerial task force tackling the pandemic has said phase three could occur before the end of the year only if three key conditions are met.
They are: a 70% TraceTogether acceptance rate, secure management compliance, and sufficient testing capabilities.
It has been more than five months since the country entered phase two of its progressive reopening, following an eight-week circuit breaker since April 7.
Experts say the main obstacle to phase three is inappropriate adoption of the TraceTogether app or token, which helps facilitate more effective contact tracing.
So far, around 2.9 million people have downloaded the app or collected the token, the Office of Digital Government and Smart Nation said. With a total population of 5.7 million, TraceTogether adoption is 50.8%, a far cry from the 70% target.
Associate Professor Alex Cook, Vice Dean for Research at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said: “One of the stated goals has been for a sufficient number of people to have TraceTogether as a tracer of More effective contacts will counteract the relaxation of the rules. I believe that we are not yet in that goal, and that may prevent us from advancing a phase. “
His colleague, Professor Teo Yik Ying, dean of the school, agrees, noting that the adoption of TraceTogether is being delayed.
He said: “At present, it appears that we will not move to phase three by the end of the year, as it appears that the token distribution has not achieved full coverage of the entire population.”
By the end of the month, the country will move away from SafeEntry and registration with the TraceTogether app or the token will be mandatory in public places, including restaurants and shopping centers.
The tokens are distributed in one constituency at a time and are currently distributed in 37 community centers and clubs, including Aljunied CC and Bukit Batok CC.
However, in recent months, the TraceTogether program has seen some initial issues, including complaints about the app draining the phone’s batteries, as well as an increase in demand for tokens, meaning not everyone has been able to get hold of one.
Testing capacity
Since the onset of the pandemic, rigorous testing regimes have been in place, including as part of community policing. These have helped detect and isolate cases.
Eight local cases have been detected since November 26, including a merchant and a migrant worker during mass testing of those working in and around the Tekka Center.
It is also worth noting whether a community case is linked or unlinked. Of the eight recent cases, at least five were unrelated, while two belonged to the dormitories.
But there is no need to be overly concerned, Professor Cook said, as the two Tekka cases appear to be isolated, suggesting that infection control measures have been effective in stopping chains of transmission.
When asked why Tekka Market was chosen as the testing site, Professor Cook explained: “People who work in customer-facing roles are more likely to interact with a case and therefore become infected.”
He also highlighted the ways in which testing can be done: proactively, such as the preschool smear exercise to ensure that preschools are safe to reopen after the circuit breaker, and reactively, such as when working on the public bus. The deposits and exchanges were tested in response to a cluster that broke out at the Bukit Panjang Integrated Transportation Center in July.
Professor Dale Fisher, Senior Consultant in the Infectious Diseases Division at National University Hospital, said Singapore’s testing strategy is multi-faceted. It includes testing people with acute respiratory infection and close contacts, and routine testing residents in dormitories and high-risk industries, as well as frontline workers.
He said: “I think that continued surveillance in places like street vendor stands is simply an extension of such efforts to find cases while ensuring that there is no significant community spread that goes unrecognized.”
With the outbreak under control, Singapore has the opportunity to redirect that ability to look for any unidentified problems, he added. “It is a luxury compared to the rest of the world.”
Complying with the rules
The public appears to have been generally abiding by the rules on wearing masks, social distancing and group gatherings of five, noted Professor Teo, an area in which the country should score well before the doors open. of phase three.
However, some black sheep remain. For example, on November 28, about 30 people at six tables at Tekka Center were allegedly intermingling, according to a report by Lianhe Zaobao.
This was one of four recently reported non-compliance incidents.
This week, the Gemma Steakhouse at Singapore’s National Gallery was ordered to close for 20 days from December 3 for disobeying safe driving measures during a 75-person dinner in October.
On Saturday, footwear retailer Foot Locker’s Orchard store was ordered to close for 10 days after large crowds gathered at the store on Friday.
The response to these violations shows that the government is committed to taking action against those who do not comply with the rules, said Professor Cook.
Risks from abroad
With some countries experiencing new waves of Covid-19 infection and the recent bursting of the Hong Kong travel bubble, questions have been raised as to whether the regional and global situation will affect the reopening of Singapore’s phase three.
If Singapore does not intend to further review its border control measures, then the global situation actually has very little to do with Singapore, Professor Teo said.
“However, if we are actively planning to facilitate the additional movements of business travelers and tourists, then we will certainly be cautious when considering what is happening globally, especially among our key business and tourism partner countries.”
Professor Cook said the global situation and the resurgence of cases as countries open up provide several lessons about what can go wrong in the pandemic.
“I think we will want to avoid going to phase three and then reverting to a stricter level of control if cases reappear, and the risk of a sea change will be one of the things that will be considered.”
Professor Teo warned that with the additional restrictions that were relaxed in phase three, including allowing larger gatherings, the risk of an accelerated and uncontrolled spread within the community, as seen in places like Hong Kong and South Korea, will increase. .
South Korea is suffering a third wave of infections, with 631 new cases on Saturday, the highest in nine months.
The clusters have been rapidly emerging in various parts of Seoul, including a call center, a gym and a university, making it difficult for authorities to curb the spread. Only about 15 percent of the cases reported in the past two weeks could be traced to known routes of transmission. “It is these types of accelerated spread that we want to control with our public health measures,” said Professor Teo.
Professor Cook remains optimistic about Singapore’s Covid-19 performance.
The nation has kept deaths very low, just under 30, and if the United States were reduced to the size of Singapore, they would have had 4,500 deaths, he noted.
There have been more than 280,000 deaths from Covid-19 in the US.
In Singapore, healthcare workers have been extremely caring, government policies have been sensible and evidence-based, and most people have followed the rules.
“Personally, I think we are ready to move on to phase three,” he said.
“The longer we are restricted but have low cases, the more people will struggle to stay motivated to follow the rules. Going to phase three will be a demonstration that everyone’s sacrifices have paid off to get back on track.”
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