Covid-19 cases cross 1m here as spread slows

Singapore reached a milestone in its battle against Covid-19 yesterday as the total number of infections recorded in the country crossed the one million mark, even as the spread of the virus continues to slow down.

With the number of new Covid-19 cases falling and the Omicron wave believed to have peaked, a range of safe management measures were simplified last week, and the first day of the weekend saw people making use of larger group sizes for sports, as well as eased safe distancing rules at performance venues.

In addition, from tomorrow, the rostered routine testing (RRT) requirement for healthcare workers will be lifted.

RRT, which requires workers to undergo supervised testing every two weeks, was lifted for most sectors last month.

But workers in the healthcare and eldercare sectors as well as settings with children under five years old, who are ineligible for vaccination, had to continue.

Doctors that The Sunday Times spoke to confirmed that a circular by the Ministry of Health said that the mandatory routine tests would end for hospital staff members tomorrow.

While they welcomed the move as part of Singapore's shift towards an endemic Covid-19 situation, they also said the onus is now on healthcare staff to ensure they are well to protect patients.

Dr Ben Ng, an endocrinologist at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, said: "We treat vulnerable patients as well, so this puts the onus on healthcare staff to make sure they are testing themselves and checking their own health regularly."

But he highlighted the need to be flexible on the issue and to watch the numbers. "If we find more patients being admitted, we might have to change (our stance) again," he added.

Dr Leong Choon Kit, a family physician at Mission Medical Clinic, said suspending testing does not mean healthcare workers stop testing entirely. "If our staff exhibit signs and symptoms of a Covid-19 infection, we will swab ourselves," he said.

He added that there is little advantage to be derived from routine testing, with a high percentage of the population vaccinated.

Northeast Medical Group chief executive Tan Teck Jack said his clinic's staff would continue testing until April 1 to play it safe, adding: "We are still seeing quite a number of Covid-19 positive patients visiting our clinics."

"It does not take a lot of time to do the RRT; however we recognise that Singapore should move towards endemic mode."

Dr Tan said staff are also told to stay home if they are not feeling well, and continue their daily testing until they are recovered.

It is unclear if or when a similar easing will take place for the eldercare sector and for those who handle children under five, such as pre-school teachers.

Singapore reported 10,244 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, and its total case tally is 1,007,158. There were 1,130 Covid-19 patients in hospital as at noon, including 127 who needed oxygen supplementation and 27 in the intensive care unit. There were three deaths.

The number of confirmed cases in Singapore has stopped being a meaningful indicator of the pandemic situation for some time, and health authorities around the world are now focusing more on hospitalisations and the overall load on their healthcare systems.

The vast majority of recent cases here - 99.7 per cent - had mild or no symptoms.