Singapore is not seeing a second wave of Covid-19 infections yet, but the risk remains, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said at a Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) press conference on July 7, 2020.

Gan was responding to the media's question on the rise of community cases in recent days.

Kenneth Mak, Director of Medical Services at the Ministry of Health (MOH), made a similar point that the cases are not seen as a second wave "at this point in time," but rather, a continuing of some cryptic infections within the community.

He said:

"[...] As we have more people coming together in close proximity, having more interactions together, that risk of transmission now increases, and therefore, the increased number of cases we're seeing in the community reflects that increased social interactivity, but that's not necessarily a second wave."

The team is monitoring the situation, Mak adds.

Few cases transmitted through gatherings

On the bright side, MTF co-chair Lawrence Wong revealed that "very, very few" linked cases in the community are happening through social gatherings, which is a stark difference from pre-circuit breaker.

This is due the very tight restrictions imposed on social gatherings, he said.

According to Wong, most cases are being transmitted through households, and some infections are also taking place in workplaces.

Wong, however, warned against being complacent.

While many want the restrictions to be relaxed, Wong said that everyone should remain responsible and vigilant, and to their part in preventing the pick up of cases in social settings.

Possibility of another circuit breaker?

When another media outlet asked about the potential strain on Singapore's healthcare system and the possibility of moving back into Phase 1 or circuit breaker, Gan replied that the taskforce also takes into account the severity of cases, instead of just looking at the number of cases.

Vast majority of the cases have been mild, he said, and the need for critical care has been low as most patients are young.

These patients are generally well, and only require monitoring and isolation before they recover on their own.

Mak supplemented that there are no active plans to return to Phase 1 after the election, despite social media talk.

However, Wong said that Singapore cannot rule out additional restrictions or even another circuit breaker down the road, although he will "try very hard not to go down that path."

Singapore is able to do so as the government has an expanded toolkit of control measures that they have been building up over the past few months, Wong explained.

This includes our expanded testing capacity, the ability to take targeted, faster actions, as well as extensive management of each case, all of which help to keep infection rates under control.

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