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Singapore could return to a circuit breaker or heightened alert phase if Covid-19 cases that end up in the intensive care unit surges, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong told the media on Monday, Sep. 6.

The number of infections has gone up with more activities allowed to resume recently, he said.

Rate of spread doubling every week

The co-chair of the multi-ministry taskforce explained that the rate of the coronavirus spreading, otherwise known as the “reproduction rate”, is of concern.

Currently, cases are doubling every week.

The reproduction rate is more than one, Wong explained.

Such a spread could see thousands of cases daily within four weeks, Wong said: “And if we continue on this trajectory of infection, it means we could have 1,000 cases in two weeks, or possibly 2,000 cases in a month.”

What can the government do?

In response to such a situation, the government could take more drastic measures, but currently, is refraining from doing so without exhausting other options.

But Wong also said earlier on Friday, Sep. 3 that the government would not revert to stricter controls even though Covid-19 cases have gone up.

Singapore, he said then, was in a “new phase” with higher vaccine coverage.

On Monday, Wong reiterated that the government is also doing its best to refrain from placing stricter controls by carrying out aggressive contact tracing and more widespread Covid-19 testing to slow the spread of the virus.

Stricter measures could kick in

But if these measures are not enough, more drastic ones could be taken.

Wong said on Monday: "And if, despite our best efforts, we continue to see, or we see serious cases in ICU or those needing oxygen going up sharply, then we may have no choice but to adopt a more tightened posture.”

“As I said last week, these are last-resort measures and we will try our best to refrain from using them, but we should not rule them out entirely."

“With all of these measures, we hope that we can help to slow down transmission without having to go back to a heightened alert or the circuit breaker."

Fluid situation

In response to a question if plans have changed over the weekend, Wong said "the situation is obviously very fluid", and were being considered just days before: "The fact is we were already thinking about some of these things on Friday."

"We talked about making testing more pervasive, but there were obviously details that needed to be worked out so we were not able to announce them on Friday."

He added: "Every day, you're continuing to see new data, new clusters or new cases.” 

Wong said the government embarked on its reopening plans for the country “in a controlled manner” with a focus on the number of severe illnesses that require oxygen support in ICUs.

However, even though the number of serious cases has remained stable, the government is concerned given the acceleration in infection rates recently.

Singapore opening up dependent on number severe Covid-19 cases

Wong also highlighted that the government will plan the opening up of the country in a controlled manner depending on the number of severe Covid-19 cases, with no plans to further open up for now.

He said the experience of other countries has shown that a sharp spike in overall cases will see a similar increase in ICU cases.

He said ways to mitigate this spread are being considered: “We are also studying the possibility of boosters for younger adults."

"And this will not only protect them but also help to slow down transmission and reduce the reproduction rate."

Circuit breaker and heightened alert background

Singapore went into circuit breaker mode in April and May 2020.

Movement was restricted and non-essential businesses stopped operations.

The heightened alert phase was applied was in May and July 2021.

The measures in the heightened alert phase were relaxed by August giving those vaccinated more freedom to dine out and congregate in small groups.

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