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The Omicron wave has peaked and is subsiding in Singapore, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in Parliament on March 9.

He was speaking during the debate on the health ministry's budget where he paid tribute to healthcare workers in Singapore and said society should stand up for them, as he listed the measures his ministry has taken to protect them.

Ong said MOH has "been doing whatever we can" to help healthcare workers, such as by moving "as many patients as possible" to facilities outside of hospitals.

This was on top of ensuring enough Personal Protective Equipment to go around and giving healthcare workers priority for vaccination when they were available.

"There are now good indications that the Omicron transmission wave has peaked and is starting to subside," he added.

"With that, I hope healthcare workers will finally have a well-deserved and lasting respite."

Risk still there

But the risk of Omicron putting a strain on the system is still there.

Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State for Health, said GP clinics, hospitals, and healthcare workers, are still under pressure caused by the Omicron wave.

Some 3 per cent of our adult population who were not fully vaccinated accounted for 25 per cent of ICU cases and deaths, he said.

On the other hand, people who have received their booster shots are 33 times less likely to die from Covid-19 than those who are not fully vaccinated.

You can read Ong's fuller statement here:

For over two years, they have toiled and fought against the Covid-19 virus, putting themselves in harm's way, undergoing tremendous stress. And even as we speak, they are keeping our populations safe and life in Singapore as normal as possible.

At MOH, we have been doing whatever we can to support them, ensuring sufficient PPE, prioritising them for vaccinations, decanting as many patients as possible to Covid-19 treatment facilities and out of the hospitals, persuading the public to undertake self-recovery if they are infected and experience mild or no symptoms, and imposing the very difficult no visitor rule in hospitals.

But more than this clinical protections, we must stand up for them against the abuse they suffer under the hands of a small minority of our population.

I thank members who spoke up for healthcare workers on this. MOH's instructions to the leaders of our public health institutions are clear. We must always protect them against abuse and insults. And this is something that we must also do as a society.

And there are now good indications that Omicron transmission wave has peaked and starting to subside.

With that, I hope not too long from now, healthcare workers will finally have a well-deserved and lasting respite.

The men and women of the healthcare sector, they are brave, dedicated, committed, big-hearted, professional, and they deserve all the support respect and understanding that we can give.

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