More data needed before Singapore can decide on easing Covid measures: Gan Kim Yong

Singapore

GOVERNMENT officials in Singapore still need "a few more days" before they can decide whether to relax strict Covid-19 curbs that have lasted for nearly 2 months, Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong said on Friday (Nov 19) at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum.

Asked about the likelihood of the Stabilisation Phase restrictions continuing past this Sunday, when they are due to lapse, Gan replied: "It's really difficult to say, because it is still too early."

He is one of three co-chairs of the multi-ministry taskforce on Covid-19 that oversees virus measures in Singapore.

The current Stabilisation Phase measures began on Sep 27 and were supposed to last for a month, but these were extended until Nov 21.

These include working from home as the default, and capping the size of social gatherings at 2 people.

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Daily infections have stabilised and started to decline in recent weeks, as Singapore's latest outbreak shows signs of slowing.

Thursday was the third time in the last week that cases in the community dipped below 2,000, down from a high of 4,650 on Oct 27.

The government has focused on its week-on-week ratio of community Covid-19 cases as a key metric for easing. It wants to see the number fall below 1 - a target that has been hit on 15 of the last 16 days.

Pressure on hospitals has also eased. More than 40 per cent of the intensive care unit (ICU) beds are now vacant, due to a combination of lower Covid-19 cases over the last few weeks, as well as a ramping up of capacity.

The government began incrementally easing restrictions from last week, such as allowing 5 people from the same household to dine together at restaurants, and announcing some pilot programmes where some social-distancing measures could be reduced.

"We are hoping that we will be able to make some review and see whether there will be opportunity for us to make some adjustments," Gan said.

He added that officials will still need "a few more days" to monitor the effects of the latest relaxation of rules, and make a quick assessment before next Monday.

Singapore is pushing for an endemic strategy of living with the virus, although that approach has been marred by several months of stop-start restrictions.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong defended the slow pace of the country's reopening on Wednesday, saying that the government was seeking to avoid making any "unsettling U-turns".

During the interview on Friday, Gan also said he was "cautiously optimistic" that the government could allow quarantine-free crossing at its land border with Malaysia.

"I am cautiously optimistic that we will be able to do so quite soon," he said, when asked about the possibility of an easing of the land border restrictions before the end of November.

The Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) at the land border could open from Nov 29, Malaysia's national news agency Bernama reported on Thursday.

Some vaccinated travellers who work in Singapore or the Malaysian border state of Johor will be able to use that channel when it opens, the report said, citing Johor Chief Minister Hasni Mohammad.

Singapore's authorities have yet to confirm the resumption date of the two land crossings that link the two countries.

The government has so far announced VTLs via flights with 21 countries. Those travelling from Malaysia will have to fly in from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in order to skip quarantine from Nov 29.

"There is a possibility, and we are hoping that we will be able to announce our launch stage shortly," added Gan.

Under the VTL scheme, a fixed number of travellers per day are allowed to enter Singapore without quarantining so long as they are fully vaccinated and test negative for Covid-19 before departure and again on arrival. BLOOMBERG