Ong Ye Kung: ‘Correct decision’ to go back to Phase 2 HA, otherwise there would’ve been ‘many more deaths’

Singapore — In the multi-ministry task force’s update to the Covid-19 situation on Thursday (Aug 19), Mr Ong Ye Kung said that the Government made the right choice to go back to Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) last month. 

Otherwise, the Health Minister said, there would have been more people who would have died.

So far, nine people have died from Covid-related issues this month, the highest number of deaths within one month since the pandemic began. The deaths include one fully vaccinated man, a 90-year-old Singaporean who had other medical issues.

However, the unusual number of deaths has been a cause for concern to some.

Mr Ong noted that the number of deaths had increased this month. He added that judging from how widespread the infections grew due to the Jurong Fishery Port cluster, which affected a number of unvaccinated seniors, in hindsight, the decision to impose tighter restrictions had been the “correct” one.

“In hindsight, it was a correct decision to throttle back to phase 2 HA when the Jurong Fishery Port cluster first broke out. Fortunately, we did that, otherwise, I think there would be many more deaths. So that move, I think, saved many lives.”

He added that admissions to ICU are on a downward trend over the past three weeks, with only three in the last week, calling this “positive news.”

“The number of those severely ill “is coming down steadily, and let’s hope we can keep that to a minimum as more people get vaccinated.”

The period of tightened restrictions bought Singapore time for more people to get vaccinated, according to Mr Ong, and by next month, 82 per cent of the population will have gotten fully vaccinated.

The Health Minister also noted that travel lanes are opening from Sept 8 to Brunei and Germany, eliminating the need for stay-home notices and that a new plot home recovery programme will start at the end of the month, allowing people with mild infections to isolate and be monitored at home.

Netizens, however, had many questions for Mr Ong.

One asked why the National Day Parade is still continuing if the Health Minister has been so concerned.

Others expressed concerns over relaxed travel restrictions, given Singapore’s small size.

/TISG

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