Experts agree with MOH move to stop daily Covid-19 updates to media, as 'they are no longer meaningful'

[SINGAPORE] The Ministry of Health (MOH) will stop issuing daily Covid-19 updates to the mediafrom Tuesday (Dec 7), although the information - including infection numbers, deaths and ICU occupancy rates - will still be available on its website.

Several experts agree with the move, saying the information provided daily does not mean much at this stage of the pandemic, when Singapore is transitioning to treating Covid-19 as endemic.

Professor Teo Yik Ying, dean of the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said community infection numbers fluctuate "depending on whether individuals feel inclined to seek medical care".

He explained that given the "considerable degree of unknowns in terms of the proportion of daily infection numbers that is symptomatic or asymptomatic, it makes interpreting infection numbers difficult and, at this stage, rather pointless too".

There is also no need to report deaths on a daily basis, he said, as this is not done for any other health conditions. This was justifiable as a pandemic response when there were no real means of protection, he said."But now we have effective vaccines and also proven treatment methods, and the country is moving on from a pandemic reaction to an endemic response," he said.

Prof Teo suggests that a weekly or monthly reportmay suffice during this transition. "But eventually I do not think we need to report even on a monthly basis," he said.

His colleague, Associate Professor Alex Cook, vice-dean of research at the school, agreed that a weekly update "would allow for a better, more comprehensive view of the epidemic situation; this is a frequency which matches the weekly updates MOH gives on other infectious diseases".

Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, an infectious diseases expert at the school, thinks that even monthly reports arenot needed, "barring some major change such as (the new Covid-19 variant) Omicron appearing and therefore there might be interest in tracking its spread among the vaccinated or prior-infected".

The experts see the MOH decision as a signal.

Said Prof Teo: "By pivoting away from daily reporting, MOH is clearly sending a signal that Singapore is moving on to the next phase of the transition from pandemic to endemic response." Added Prof Cook: "I would suppose MOH is seeking to encourage journalists to dial back the coverage they give the pandemic, which has overwhelmed coverage of other matters, including other important public health matters." But Prof Cook added that once Omicron starts circulating here, things might change and detailed reports might prove useful.

Prof Teo said: "MOH should continue to track the cause of deaths and, moving forward, the Death Registry will likely have a permanent addition of Covid-19 as a possible cause of death."

THE STRAITS TIMES