Singapore's strategy can help preserve healthcare capacity: Gan

Sharon See

Published Wed, Mar 25, 2020 · 09:50 PM

Singapore

SINGAPORE'S strategy to flatten the curve when it comes to controlling the spread of the novel coronavirus may stretch the pandemic over a longer period of time, but it would help to preserve the country's healthcare capacity to care for more severe cases, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said.

Delivering a ministerial statement in Parliament on Wednesday, Mr Gan, who also co-chairs a multi-ministry task force set up to deal with the coronavirus, said academics have established two possible scenarios: one that has a sharp peak, and the other with a long tail.

Doing nothing would cause the number of cases to shoot up, like what is happening in several cities recently, Mr Gan said, and the only hope in that scenario is to wait for herd immunity or a vaccine. This was a strategy…