The Big Story: Are S'pore's new Covid-19 measures enough to slow down spread?

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Seniors who prefer the Sinopharm vaccine can get free vaccinations at Healthway clinics from Wednesday (Sept 8).

The medical group has tied up with real estate company OUE to sponsor full vaccination for 1,000 seniors aged 60 and above.

Meanwhile, with the number of weekly Covid-19 cases in Singapore almost doubling last week to more than 1,200, new measures were announced on Monday to keep the situation under control.

They are to buy the country time to get more people vaccinated, and slow down transmission without having to go back to a state of heightened alert, or a circuit breaker, said Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the multi-ministry task force on Covid-19.

The measures include expanding its testing regime to more workers and stepping up its ring-fencing efforts to identify cases more quickly.

The public is also strongly urged to reduce non-essential social activities for the next two weeks, especially those who are old or living with elderly family members.

Professor Dale Fisher, a senior consultant at NUH's Division of Infectious Diseases, weighs in on these new developments.

Separately, when it comes to combating the Delta variant of Covid-19, Singapore cannot rely solely on vaccines, said director of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases Professor Leo Yee Sin. In an exclusive interview with ST, Prof Leo added that this means Singapore cannot let up in its fight against the disease.

Political correspondent Linette Lai shares more.

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