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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) recently claimed that the Covid-19 situation in Singapore is "unknown", suggesting that travel to the city-state should be avoided.

Ong: U.S. CDC not aware of Singapore's surveillance test numbers

In response, health minister Ong Ye Kung said that the U.S. CDC is not aware of Singapore's surveillance test numbers.

The Ministry of Health is currently engaging the U.S. embassy and the U.S. CDC to provide them with the necessary data.

"To be clear: we know our situation very well," he said during a press conference today (January 5).

Singapore administers over 150,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests every week, said Ong. This works out to over 21,000 PCR tests per day.

"The positive rates for these tests are under two per cent," he added.

Singapore also has 145 wastewater testing stations across the island. These are located in places like housing estates, dormitories, and nursing homes.

Only a "very small handful" are registering the presence of Covid-19 viral fragments, said the minister.

"So we are sure that the incidence of Covid-19 in our community is currently low and stable," said Ong.

Omicron in the community

However, he also pointed out that the Omicron variant is already in the community, making up close to 20 per cent of local cases, urging Singaporeans to be prepared for when the Omicron variant starts to multiply quickly.

Ong also said today that the Delta wave that struck Singapore late last year has "substantially subsided" despite the resumption of many social activities.

This, he said, shows that Singapore society has become more resilient to the virus and that we are moving closer towards living with it:

"This is also the result of everyone’s efforts and our collective will. While cases rose exponentially in many parts of the world, we maintained our discipline, kept our masks on, stuck to our group sizes, got ourselves vaccinated and boosted, and kept our infection levels low."

Top image credit: MCI.