Despite the implementation of tough new measures restricting movements and social interactions, Singapore should still be prepared for a rise in coronavirus cases over the next few weeks, said Health Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday.
The new measures come even as the Republic ramps up its contact tracing efforts to fight the virus.
However, Mr Gan, who co-chairs the multi-ministry task force that is stemming the spread of the virus here, said: "Over the next one to two weeks, we may still see the number of cases increasing (as) the measures that we put in place today will actually have an effect only after one or two weeks, because the infection has an incubation period."
He added that for some of the cases Singapore is currently seeing, the infections had occurred a week or two prior.
Nevertheless, he urged all to redouble their efforts in maintaining social distancing to slow down the rate of new infections here.
Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, the Ministry of Health's (MOH) director of medical services, said Singapore still has the capacity to handle cases here.
Speaking at the same press conference, Prof Mak said the Republic has been expanding its healthcare capacity in anticipation of an increase in the number of cases here.
Various hospitals here were originally designed with the ability to expand their bed capacity, and this is being tapped, he said.
The Government has also been in discussion with a number of private hospitals, which could help care for patients with Covid-19, or those with chronic illnesses.
MOH has also stocked up on additional equipment, and has been progressively training more people to take on extra roles such as looking after additional patients in the intensive care unit (ICU).
The ministry has also approached healthcare workers who have had previous critical care experience, but are now deployed elsewhere, inviting them to return to their original roles.
Such workers are being provided with refresher training to prepare them for their new responsibilities.
MOH will continue to take on additional measures where needed in anticipation of future increases in the number of cases, said Prof Mak.
Despite Singapore's preparedness, however, Mr Gan cautioned that those here "should not test the limit". The new steps, dubbed circuit-breaker measures, have been put in place to maintain a buffer.
Mr Gan added: "Even if we have a physical capacity in terms of number of beds in ICU and in isolation wards, we also have to be mindful of the healthcare workers who have been working day and night around the clock... in order to take care of these patients.
"So we must do all we can to minimise the number of cases that we see every day, so that we give more capacity to the healthcare system and give more leeway for our healthcare workers so that they are able to perform their tasks."
Timothy Goh
