The rise in the number of new Covid-19 cases today and over the past few days is 'a concern', Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong stated at a press conference on Mar. 18.

Most of the new cases are imported

In giving the breakdown of cases, Wong noted that most of the new cases were imported.

In addition, a majority of such cases consist of Singaporean residents who are returning to the country.

Some cases were identified at the airport while others were identified "shortly after they come home and see a doctor".

As such, this is why Singapore is implementing additional border controls, Wong added.

Plans have been put in place to prevent the healthcare system from being overwhelmed

When asked if Singapore's healthcare system could become overwhelmed, the Ministry of Health's Director of Medical Services, Kenneth Mak, stated that should cases continue to rise significantly in a short period of time, this could be the case.

However, plans have already been put in place to prepare for such an outcome and that measures will continue to be implemented and capacity will be expanded if needed.

Number of new cases reaching three digits is not impossible

When asked about the possibility of a three-digit single day increase in new cases, Gan did not rule out that possibility.

"Will we ever reach a 3-digit number? It is not impossible and I think we must be prepared for that. As I've mentioned many times, we do expect to see a significantly higher number."

Gan pointed out that while the most number of cases in a single day right now is 47, that might go up in the short term as many Singapore residents have recently returned to Singapore from overseas even before the stay-home-notice and the current travel advisor was issued, and some would be in the incubation phase of the virus infection.

Many of the measures put in place will help to delay the peak of the virus, which means that there is sufficient capacity for the rise in cases.

However, this also means that the outbreak in Singapore may last longer as the peak of the virus is delayed.

Singapore hopes to avoid a lockdown

Wong stated that while Singapore was not planning for a lockdown of the city, one could not rule anything out.

Elaborating that Singapore was hoping to avoid such a scenario, he explained that stringent measures will continue to be implemented in the hopes of slowing down and suppressing the spread of the virus.

Image from Getty