The Ministry of Health (MOH) updated on May 14 that there are 752 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore as of 12pm.
Of these, only two are Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PRs).
Single-digit community cases for past five days
So far, close to 40 days have passed since the start of the circuit breaker period.
As mid-May approaches, it appears that Singapore is on track to ending this circuit breaker period by June 1 with the recent low numbers of community cases.
According to MOH's definition, community cases refer to Singaporeans, PRs and Work Pass holders.
In the past five days, Singapore has reported low single-digit number of community cases.
Daily community cases
May 10: 4 (2 Singaporeans/PRs, 2 Work Passes)
May 11: 3 (2 Singaporeans/PRs, 1 Work Pass)
May 12: 4 (3 Singaporeans/PRs, 1 Work Pass)
May 13: 4 ( 2 Singaporeans/PRs, 2 Work Passes)
May 14: 2 ( 2 Singaporeans/PRs)
Conditions for restriction measures to loosen
Previously, infectious disease expert, Leong Hoe Nam, said that Singapore can only consider loosening the circuit breaker period if the daily number of cases in the community is reduced to less than five per day.
He also expressed his confidence that the tightened circuit breaker measures, which included the closure of bubble tea shops and other retail outlets, can help to achieve this goal by June.
However, he cautioned that there is definitely no room for complacency as Singapore should still aim for zero cases.
Earlier in Parliament on May 4, both chairmen of the multi-ministry taskforce have also urged Singaporeans to not be complacent.
Minister of National Development Lawrence Wong said "the fight is far from over" and he described this battle against Covid-19 as a marathon.
Minister of Health, Gan Kim Yong, said that one of the key conditions for Singapore to relax the measures is to have very low community transmission.
“Community cases should ideally fall to zero or single-digits daily, with very low numbers of unlinked cases, not just for one day, but sustained over a period of time," Gan said in Parliament.
Getting ready to open economy again
Most recently, Wong also announced on May 12 that Singapore is "in a good position" to reopen economy in a "cautious and calibrated manner" as we make progress in controlling the outbreak.
However, Wong also noted that new cases can emerge again when we resume daily activities gradually just like what has happened in many other countries.
Therefore, he highlighted that it is important for Singapore to build up capacity for faster contact tracing and for more comprehensive large scale testing moving forward to prevent large clusters from forming.
Top photo via Clean and Green Singapore/Facebook.