Covid-19 pandemic - mismanagement by PAP government

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Quote: "The Delta variant doesn't follow our script," he said,..."

Because the Delta variant came from a good school? Or the 4G ministers went to lousy schools?

Singapore stays on course to live with Covid-19 but faces three uncertainties​

The rate of increase of daily infection numbers, the fatality rate and the burden on hospital resources are the uncertainties facing Singapore, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.PHOTO: ST FILE

Clara Chong

Sep 24, 2021

SINGAPORE - Singapore is staying on course to transition to a new normal of living with Covid-19 but faces three uncertainties: the rate of increase of daily infection numbers, the fatality rate and the burden on hospital resources, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.
Providing an update on the state of the pandemic here on Friday (Sept 24), Mr Ong said that Singapore needs to adjust its plans depending on what the Delta Covid-19 variant throws at the nation.
"It is the only way for us to recover from Covid-19 as a people, as a nation," he said at a virtual press conference of the multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19 here.
"We may seem like we are trailing some European countries, which are or have reopened and living lives quite normally. But remember they paid a huge price in human lives, mostly last year."
He added that Singapore will do whatever it can to minimise death from Covid-19, and that it is also the reason why Singapore is opening up only after it has vaccinated the vast majority of its population.
"So we will ride out this wave differently, safely and successfully."

Currently, Covid-19 cases are in their fourth doubling cycle. It is still unclear if the daily infection numbers will eventually turn the corner, even though there are some signs of a slower rate of increase, he said.
"So how the trajectory will turn out in the coming weeks will be a big uncertainty... Looking at the current momentum, daily infection numbers will cross 1,600 cases a day... But no transmission wave lasts forever," he said.
If the doubling of cases continues, Singapore could see 3,200 cases a day next month, he added.
Second, it is unclear how many more patients will fall seriously ill and die.

This number is at a much lower level due to the protective effect of vaccinations. A total of 23 intensive care unit (ICU) beds have been occupied.
The situation so far remains stable, but ICU numbers lag infection numbers by around 10 to 14 days, Mr Ong said.

Third, each daily increase in infection number is a big absolute number and will add pressure on Singapore's healthcare system, he said.
"The Delta variant doesn't follow our script," he said, noting that this current wave of infection came faster than expected, and happened before the MOH's ramped-up plans were fully implemented.
To cope with the increase in cases, the number of Covid-19 hospital beds have increased from 1,000 to 1,600.
"But it comes at the expense of some degradation of normal services," he said.
To reduce the strain on hospital resources, the MOH commissioned a new class of facility for closer monitoring and management of patients with chronic illnesses.

Singapore's first Covid-19 stepped-up community treatment facility in Tampines opened on Thursday, with around 300 community treatment beds. Another 200 beds will also be set aside at Sengkang General Hospital for this purpose.
Separately, Singapore has also rolled out a home recovery programme. More than 40 per cent of daily cases are put on this programme today.
This care management model for Covid-19 recovery has been the default recovery setting for suitable patients from Aug 30, when the pilot first started. This model also applies to those aged between 12 and 69, are fully vaccinated and do not have severe comorbidities or illnesses.
Without the home recovery programme, the healthcare system would have been overwhelmed, Mr Ong said.

 

[borom]

From 2,000 he is now raising target to 5,000 daily cases -slowing boiling the frog again.
Already cannot cope with 1,600 daily cases and yet aiming for 5,000 cases -sheer madness in playing with our lives.

 

[Incognito]

Two fully vaccinated people have died. No full details are given. Old and young people have underlying medical issues. Why still insist that fully vaccinated people will have mild or no symptom?

 

[blackmondy]

Have anyone ever consider that cash and coins have viruses on them ? There is so much exchange of money going on everyday. Making payment on AXS and cash withrawals at ATMs all involve touching buttons that might have been contaminated. I make it a point to 洗钱 literally after getting my change.

 

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Forum: Are people psychologically prepared to live with Covid-19?​

Sep 29, 2021

I am surprised and disappointed that Covid-19 restrictions have been tightened again due to fears that hospitals might get overwhelmed by rising cases.
Singapore's vaccination rate, at 82 per cent, is among the highest in the world. Other countries have opened up despite much lower vaccination rates.
All governments have to look for a balance between saving lives and saving livelihoods. Complete lockdowns save lives but destroy businesses and jobs. Completely opening up would save jobs and businesses but the country would have to accept a higher death toll.
So the key is vaccination, which is very effective in preventing severe illness and death.
I think the Government is cautious about opening up because our people are not psychologically prepared to live with Covid-19.
They get upset when they see the infection numbers rise. Compounding this is the widespread distribution of antigen rapid test kits which encourage testing. People panic when they test positive and rush to the emergency departments, and the more people test, the more positive cases will be uncovered.

All this panic may be putting pressure on our leaders and has slowed down the reopening of the economy. We need to teach people that if you are vaccinated, and you get infected, it is no longer an emergency.
More than 98 per cent of infected people who have been vaccinated now have mild or no symptoms (Unvaccinated patients at 12 times higher risk of dying, needing ICU care, Sept 25). ICU admissions and deaths have been kept low.
We need to educate the public not to panic if they get infected, as the majority of them will not need hospitalisation.
If you have only mild symptoms or are asymptomatic, just isolate yourself at home to avoid infecting others.
Also, get vaccinated if you have not already done so and are medically eligible.
It is socially irresponsible not to be vaccinated because if you are infected, you are more likely to take up valuable hospital resources.

Tan Keng Soon

 

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Forum: Daily Covid-19 figures should still be disclosed​

Oct 2, 2021

I disagree with the points raised by Straits Times senior health correspondent Salma Khalik (Daily Covid-19 numbers should not blur bigger picture, cause unintended pain, Oct 1) and Forum writer Steven Ho Peng Hock (Should daily reports focus only on those who are likely to fall very ill?, Oct 1).
Both writers advocate either withholding or delaying information on infection figures from the public.
Instead of moving towards transparency, they seem to be advocating more opacity. As it stands, the information provided by the Ministry of Health is not as comprehensive as in places like Hong Kong, which provides the locality information of every confirmed Covid-19 case and flight and seat number of every imported case.
As a citizen, I would like to receive timely and complete information from the Government, so that I can make my own decision about whether to go out or attend certain events based on my own assessment of my health, condition and risk.

Goh Ee Ca

 

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A confused population cannot pull together to fight the Covid-19 pandemic​

Salma Khalik
Senior Health Correspondent

Early in September, home recovery was for fully vaccinated people 50 years and younger who had no or mild symptoms.

ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Oct 4, 2021

SINGAPORE - When circumstances change or more is known about Covid-19, Singapore's response to the virus, too, must change. That is being nimble in the face of a pandemic.
But changes that happen too often can lead to confusion and poor adherence to rules - to the detriment of overall efforts to keep people safe.
Acknowledging this last week, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said: "The protocols are many and complex to the man in the street, and to them, it's confusing and even frustrating.
"Few people truly understand or remember them. This issue needs to be addressed because if people don't understand, they can't do their part to exercise personal responsibility, much less help others."
But the confusion, I would argue, goes beyond just complex protocols or the use of too many "alphabet soup" acronyms.
Such confusion, especially in recent months, also applies to policies.

The Singapore Medical Association runs an opinion blog called hobbitsma, penned by an anonymous doctor.
On Sept 27, the writer bemoaned how the lack of clarity from the Ministry of Health (MOH) stresses out healthcare workers, including its policy on vaccine booster shots that have left general practitioners bewildered.
The writer said: "On 14 Sept 21, GPs were informed by AIC that boosters can be given for those 60 and above if they had received their two doses at least six months (or 180 days) ago.
"On 17 Sept 21, this was revised to five months (or 150 days). That's fine. Then on 24 Sept 21, another (third) e-mail was sent by AIC (on behalf of MOH) to yet again change the criteria to 143 days and if the person had received an SMS from MOH to take their booster shot."

AIC is the Agency for Integrated Care, a corporate entity under MOH Holdings that acts as a centralised coordinator for help that seniors might need, such as getting a place in a nursing home.
Three different criteria on boosters disseminated within a two-week period does make one wonder about the decision-making behind this policy.
The writer also wondered about the odd figure of 143 days, and suggested that 150 days or five months would make life far easier for everyone.
If doctors are confused, how much more the general public, and on as important an issue as when to take a booster shot.
More to the point, when booster jabs were announced on Sept 10, the official word to the public was that they were for those 60 and above, and residents of aged-care facilities, "who have completed their vaccination regimen with two doses at least six months ago".

Seniors register for Covid-19 vaccines booster shots at Bishan Vaccination Centre on Oct 1, 2021. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY

There has been no announcement on how the policy had been tweaked to a shorter interval of 150 days, let alone 143 days. This has led to confusion, as people have been getting invitations to register for their boosters even though they have yet to hit six months - the original policy - from their second jab.
This was compounded by a statement last Thursday (Sept 30) that people 60 years and older who completed their second dose on April 1, 2021, or earlier, may walk in without appointments for their booster jab from Oct 1 - that's still six months.
The policy on home recovery is another example.
Early in September, home recovery was for fully vaccinated people 50 years and younger who had no or mild symptoms, and provided they were not living with someone who is older than 80 or medically vulnerable, such as the immunocompromised or pregnant, and who have their own room with an attached bathroom/toilet.

Later in September, it was extended to people aged 69 years and younger, with all other conditions applying, except they now should "preferably" have an attached bathroom.
The change was not surprising - and even understandable - given the rising number of infections, of whom more than 98 per cent were either asymptomatic or mildly sick. The devil, though, was in the details of this policy.
More than a million families live in HDB flats, of which around two in three are four-room or smaller. If one room and toilet/bathroom is set aside for the one infected person, how does the rest of the family manage?
And how many families have no vulnerable person, such as a pregnant woman, someone who is sick or over the age of 80 years, at home?

As Covid-19 continues to spread, home recovery will become the default. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

As Covid-19 continues to spread, home recovery will become the default, as it will be impossible to find enough places to house everyone, even if hotels and student hostels are roped in.
The criteria for home recovery needs to be aligned with what most people can manage.
For example, can someone who is asymptomatic share a toilet but limit the surfaces touched and properly clean them after use? Given how there are more than 130,000 people older than 80 in Singapore, should home recovery be allowed in all cases, so long as precautions are taken, such as everyone at home wearing a mask throughout the patient's 10-day recovery period?

For a policy to work, it must work in practice.
Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, an infectious diseases expert at the National University of Singapore Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said: "Some policies such as home recovery had multiple clauses that were impracticable for a significant proportion - perhaps even a majority - of households with Covid-19 members, and lacked ground support for implementation to the extent that to call it an operational failure might be charitable."
Prof Hsu also pointed out that some contacts of Covid-19 patients had been contacted by MOH only eight to nine days after the encounter. This reveals a lack of preparedness, given how the authorities had themselves predicted a surge.
Requiring children below the age of 12 to be checked by a hospital doctor before being allowed to do home recovery adds work to an already stressed healthcare system, he added.

Under current rules, if a person's ART result is positive twice, indicating he has been infected with Covid-19, he does not need to have a confirmatory polymerase chain reaction test. PHOTO: ST FILE

Another area of confusion has been the policy on what happens when someone tests positive for Covid-19.
Every household has been given antigen rapid test (ART) self-test kits, and a fair number of workplaces require regular testing using these kits.
Under current rules, if a person's ART result is positive twice, indicating he has been infected with Covid-19, he does not need to have a confirmatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
In fact, he does not even need to inform MOH that he has been infected. He just needs to stay home and repeat the ART test till it gives him a negative result, after which he may return to work and normal life.
This also means he is not part of the daily count of about 2,000 new infections that MOH has been reporting, which leads to the question: How accurate are those figures?

If all the people with Covid-19 who discovered their infection through self-tests are not included - and we can assume that they are either not sick or only mildly so - then would the percentage of people who do not get seriously ill be actually higher than the 98.1 per cent released by MOH? How much higher? Are the numbers released even meaningful?
Once the person gets a negative result, life returns to normal for him, as prescribed under the current policy. But MOH also says on its website that the ART has "potentially high false negative rate in individuals with low viral load".
So one negative test result could mean the person is still infectious. Yet the authorities have deemed it all right for him to resume life as normal. Wouldn't it be better if two negative tests are needed to give the all-clear?
A reader wrote in recently to say that his son's sergeant was confirmed to have Covid-19. Upon this, his son and all his platoon mates were made to take a PCR test then told to go home.
He asked why the platoon was sent home before the PCR test results were out, since this could inadvertently spread the disease to others, including vulnerable seniors like him at home. Wouldn't it have been better if the entire platoon was kept in camp and ring-fenced till the tests were out?
His comments made sense to me, given how these soldiers already stay in camp and could easily have been asked to remain there for a day or two more.
Also, why were these young men- likely to be asymptomatic even if they had caught Covid-19 - given PCR tests when others in Singapore who test positive with the less-accurate ART do not even need to inform MOH that they have been infected?

Am I the only one confused by these rules and their inconsistent implementation?
I'm sure I am not, since there are still workplaces and food outlets that close for 14 days because an employee had tested positive for Covid-19. They obviously have not heard that this is no longer necessary. What is clear: Simply announcing a rule change doesn't mean the message has got through.
Professor Dale Fisher, an infectious diseases specialist at the National University Hospital (NUH), said good communication "is easily the major challenge for any outbreak response".
He added: "If guidelines change every week, people and businesses won't keep up. Yes, we must be nimble but we also need to factor in the capacity to get the messages and activities to all corners of the population."
Agreeing, Professor Teo Yik Ying, dean of the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said: "Our communication strategies need to be consistent so the public know how to respond."
Instead, we are getting conflicting messages.

One last example: People are told that if they are fully vaccinated and healthy, an infection is unlikely to cause more than mild symptoms, which is in line with transiting to an endemic state.
But cross signals come when places like Pasir Panjang market is closed - a move more aligned with an elimination strategy, pointed out Prof Teo.
A confused population cannot pull together to fight a pandemic.
Mr Ong has given the assurance that protocols will be simplified. Hopefully, the situation will be sorted out soon.

 

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Blindly following MTF-issued guidelines

Forum: Plans for family cruise spoilt by 2-person rule​

OCT 7, 2021


I was looking forward to enjoying a cruise with my family later this month.
But we were dismayed when the cruise operator informed us recently that the maximum-two-person safe management measure would apply to everyone on board.
All activities, including dining, photo taking, swimming and even walking around the ship, would be affected, thus making a family holiday on-board quite meaningless.
Yet families are allowed to stay together in the same cabin in close contact with one another.
To be eligible to board a cruise ship, one has to first test negative for Covid-19 in a polymerase chain reaction test and an antigen rapid test, so the chances of passengers harbouring the Covid-19 virus are extremely low.

Victor Ng Beng Li

 

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Mix of factors behind low Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong​

1 of 2

C
ustomers have their meal at a local restaurant in Hong Kong, on Sept 4, 2021.PHOTO: AFP

Claire Huang
Hong Kong Correspondent

Oct 4, 2021

HONG KONG - For months now on Friday nights, Hong Kong's Lan Kwai Fong district looks just like how it was pre-pandemic: bars and pubs opening their doors till 4am to local and expat partygoers wearing costumes and hats and dancing to live performances, while chatter fills restaurants that can now sit up to 12 customers a table.
In a city still chasing a zero-Covid-19 strategy, borders may be mostly shut to non-residents but life has largely returned to normal.
Students attend lessons in schools, the office crowd goes about its daily routine, trains and buses are crowded, and hospitals cope with patient load.
People are more relaxed now, although there are still signs of caution. For instance, face masks are still worn, cinemas do not allow food and drinks, and karaoke lounges no longer serve buffets.
On Wednesday (Oct 6), Hong Kong recorded six imported cases. There has been no locally transmitted cases in the territory of 7.4 million people for almost two months.
The scene today is a far cry from the red alert phase in November last year, when clusters popped up islandwide, sparked by dance clubs for socialites. The high alert lasted for months, with the government tightening social distancing rules and rolling out ambush lockdowns on buildings, during which everyone on the premises were tested.

By late February, social distancing rules had eased and life slowly went back on track.
Experts have attributed Hong Kong's success in staving off another wave of outbreaks to a combination of strict border controls and quarantine, social distancing, as well as aggressive contact tracing, testing, screening and surveillance.
Although the Delta variant was found in the community in June, Hong Kong managed to quickly snuff it out so that it did not spread in what is largely a Covid-19-naive population. Since the city saw its first patient on Jan 23, 2020, it has had only about 12,200 cases and 213 deaths.
Epidemiologist Ben Cowling at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) thinks the city's most important measure in keeping a lid on cases is its strict on-arrival hotel quarantine that can go up to 21 days.

But the flip side of having some of the world's toughest border rules and quarantine measures is how it has taken a toll on the Asian financial hub's recovery, which has been uneven.
That said, its economy continued to grow in the second quarter by 7.6 per cent from a year ago, buoyed by improving global economic conditions and a stable pandemic situation.
The tough stance on overseas arrivals, however, has drawn flak from businesses. In a rare open letter to Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam in August this year, the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong cautioned that the city's business reputation was at risk.
But Mrs Lam replied that many local and international companies had told her repeatedly that they want to enter mainland China to talk to investors and consumers, so Hong Kong's priority has been on its borders with the mainland.

Zero-Covid-19 strategy​

Neon signs of a nightclub and a hotel are seen at Mongkok, Hong Kong, on Aug 8, 2021. PHOTO: REUTERS

In a bid to reopen its borders with the mainland and Macau, Hong Kong has adopted their strategy of zero local infection.
Its priority has been to control the pandemic and prevent imported cases from spreading the virus to the community.
During the flare-up of cases last November, the government tightened rules, including shutting dance clubs, limiting diners to two per table, closing entertainment venues and suspending schools.
From late January, ambush lockdowns were conducted. These were overnight operations where typically one or two buildings or streets identified as sites of infections were sealed off. Everyone in the affected area was tested and had to remain on the premises till given the all-clear, usually by morning. Those who refused to be tested risked a fine of HK$5,000 (S$873). About a dozen Covid-19 cases were detected from late January to end-May.
With no local transmission now, such lockdowns have tapered off but this is a tool officials can still use to quickly detect possible spread.
The city is also maintaining contact tracing and social distancing rules such as mask-wearing and limiting public gatherings to four.

Hong Kong's priority has been to control the pandemic and prevent imported cases from spreading the virus to the community. PHOTO: AFP

It has also introduced more relaxed measures for diners and eateries under a tiered approach. For example, more people can sit at a table and eateries can operate for longer if both staff and diners are vaccinated.
The government takes a multi-bureau approach in tackling the pandemic, where the various ministries discuss and seek the opinions of an expert panel. The Executive Council, together with the Chief Executive, will then make decisions based on the recommendations. As the situation stabilised, the government has done away with daily press conferences and now sends out press releases daily.
Consultant Morgan Lam, 35, said Hong Kongers like her are tired of the strict policies.
"I don't think it's back to normal. It's the bare minimum of returning to a normal life since there are still regulations on patrons per table, wearing of masks and group sizes in public, a travel ban, quarantine, among other things," she said.
Expat Siobhan Ho, in her 30s, thinks the border measures are too strict but there are some perks.
"The silver lining is that once in the city, it feels like a safe bubble. Other than the lack of freedom to travel, life feels normal," she said.

Border controls​

Local media has reported that the border with China can reopen to Hong Kongers only before February 2022 at the earliest, after Hong Kong officials develop a health app that must meet Beijing's conditions for allowing quarantine-free travel into the country.
Currently, Hong Kong has three categories for countries - high risk, medium risk and low risk.
Only fully vaccinated Hong Kong residents can enter the city if they are from the 25 high-risk places, including Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Strict rules have effectively closed off Hong Kong to most international travellers. PHOTO: REUTERS

The medium-risk category includes Australia, Singapore, Japan and South Korea. All Hong Kong residents from these places are allowed in, as well as fully vaccinated non-residents.
New Zealand is the only one considered low risk. Residents of Hong Kong and non-residents can enter regardless of vaccination status.

All arrivals must take a nucleic acid test before the flight and face at least seven tests in Hong Kong, besides a mandatory quarantine of between seven and 21 days in designated hotels. The riskier the places the travellers come from, the longer the quarantine period.
The strict rules effectively close off the city to most international travellers.
In the past two weeks, Hong Kong recorded 76 imported cases.

Testing, contact tracing​

Hong Kong's low Covid-19 cases in the past five months have helped officials and healthcare staff cope.
That said, the healthcare system came under immense pressure in previous waves of the pandemic. But the situation ebbed with aggressive mass testing to identify patients, and the cooperation of residents, who stayed home.
Last September, the government rolled out a voluntary two-week mass testing exercise that detected more than a dozen carriers from about 1.8 million people.
Currently, testing is mandatory for workers in certain sectors such as construction and food and beverage. Unvaccinated staff of places such as nursing homes and government departments are also subject to nasal and throat swabs every one to two weeks.
"More frequent testing - that is, on an alternate day or at least twice per week for staff regularly exposed to imported cases - is needed to allow early detection before there are more than two generations of transmission," said Dr Leung Chi Chiu of the Hong Kong Medical Association.
This is because rapid containment by conventional contact tracing is virtually impossible when transmission links become blurred after multiple generations of community transmission, he added.

Vaccination​

Hong Kong offers two Covid-19 vaccines - Sinovac and Pfizer-BioNTech.
About 63 per cent of its eligible population - those aged 12 and above - have had two doses of a vaccine, while 67 per cent have had at least the first shot.
The expert panel advising the government has said there is no urgency for booster shots since there has been no outbreak for months. It is of the view that a third dose would not be needed until two to three months before borders reopen.
Vaccine hesitancy is high and officials face the most resistance from the elderly. So far, a mere 15 per cent of those aged 80 years and above have received the first shot, while it is 41 per cent for seniors aged 70-79 and 60 per cent for those aged 60-69.

Vaccine hesitancy is high and officials face the most resistance from the elderly. PHOTO: AFP

Dr Leung noted that the vaccination rate among those aged over 70 is still very low in Hong Kong. It is "in no position to retreat to the second line of defence of the healthcare system and allow natural infection to close any remaining gap in herd immunity before the infection turns endemic", he said.
Ms Lam, who is fully vaccinated, said she feels that Hong Kong's vaccination rate "is decent". But she thinks that the more infectious variants like Delta have "exposed the weaknesses of the first-generation vaccines".
"It's unlikely that Hong Kong will hit herd immunity since this is an ageing population and one where seniors make up a good proportion of the population," she said.
Government data released last year showed that in 2019, seniors aged 65 and above, at 1.3 million people, made up 18 per cent of the population.

Immunity, hygiene​

Dr Carol Tan of the Good Life Medical Centre thinks Hong Kong's virus resilience could be linked to the population's "immune fitness" or level of immunity, as well as high personal hygiene.
She cited a study by the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami which found that having a flu jab before lowers a Covid-infected person's likelihood of getting severe body-wide infection, blood clots, stroke or even having to be treated in an intensive care unit.
The research's co-author, Dr Devinder Singh, said influenza vaccination "can dually act to prevent a coronavirus and influenza 'twindemic'".
Said Dr Tan: "If you have yearly flu vaccines, you're more able to combat viral infections. Hong Kong, like the UK, has been doing yearly flu jabs."
She added that immune fitness is linked to the process of immune dysfunction that occurs with age. "I think immune fitness is not just about vaccination but also about lifestyle, diet and better control of chronic diseases," said Dr Tan.
And vaccine efficacy is dependent on multiple factors, including immune fitness, vaccine type, how it is produced and the dosage, she added.
As at end July this year, between 38 and 60 per cent of Hong Kong children aged six months to 12 years had taken the flu jab, while between 12 and 45 per cent of seniors aged 50 and above had it.
A 2019 Singapore national population health survey showed that only 17.4 per cent of people aged 18-74 took a flu jab within the past 12 months of the poll.
But other experts pointed out that the study does not show causation nor suggest a clear causal link on how flu jabs would help.
Dr Tan also said another factor that helps keep infections down is Hong Kong's high personal hygiene awareness, driven by past experiences.

The city was scarred by the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak that infected more than 1,700 people and led to 299 deaths or a fatality rate of about 17 per cent.
For now, experts are concerned about winter - when people spend more time indoors and the virus lives longer in cold weather - which will be a test of control measures globally.
"Some countries may achieve herd immunity by vaccination, including the third dose, some unfortunately by major outbreaks and some by both," said Dr Leung.
"When some form of herd immunity has been achieved in different parts of the world, Covid-19 will be closer to an endemic disease and the world may be more ready to live with it like influenza."

 

[borom]

If you compare the salaries of Hong Kong politicians to those of the PAP multimillion salaried here, the incompetence of the PAP is even more obvious/glaring .
So many died here and yet they are acting smug and arrogant

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: Town councils need to up their game in Covid-19 fight​

Oct 8, 2021

Town councils play an important role in ensuring the health and safety of their residents during this pandemic.
I have visited many estates where lifts are clean, and hand sanitiser bottles are filled.
In my estate, though, the lifts are dirty, and hand sanitiser bottles are almost always empty.
The town council acts to refill the sanitiser only when I write in, and I have had to do so several times.
Town councils governing estates such as Sembawang, Kebun Bahru and Nee Soon seem to care a lot for the health of their residents. At these estates, sanitiser bottles are refilled regularly and there are phone numbers and e-mail addresses for residents to contact should they run out of sanitiser.
I hope all town councils will follow their example and help care for their residents.


Eugene Low Wen Qiang

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: My wife's a teacher. Can I have her back with the family please?​

OCT 11, 2021

The topic of overworked teachers has been brought up before, but needs relooking as not much seems to have changed for the better.
My wife is an educator and is also part of her school's middle management team.
Over the past few weeks, when Covid-19 cases started sprouting up in schools, the workload of teachers has increased tremendously.
On top of their administrative and teaching roles, teachers are now deployed as contact-tracers for positive cases.
These duties can take up the whole afternoon and evening, with information from various ministries coming in at different times.
Teachers are expected to hop into action and abandon whatever they are doing (family and rest time go out the window) whenever cases are reported, even during the weekends.

During home-based learning periods, teachers have to work harder to conduct more lessons online as students are broken up into smaller groups for better control. This is, of course, on top of helping out their own children also on home-based learning.
Can we draw a clear line between those who are supposed to focus on teaching and others dedicated to contact-tracing and Covid-19-related matters?
How can we stop teachers from being exhausted and burnt out? They are already entering the school before sunrise and leaving only after sunset. The marking and calls to be answered continue at home.
The fight against the pandemic is going to continue, so we need to act fast or we'll face a collapse of one of the world's best education systems. Let's not wait till it's too late.
As for myself, I just hope to have a wife, a mother and a key family member back.

Ng Wei Yang

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: Let patients know what serious Covid-19 symptoms are and how to go for triage if needed​

OCT 13, 2021


There were so many confusing protocols to follow in the management of Covid-19 patients, doctors and patients were confounded.
The simpler three-step health protocol is much easier to digest and implement (Treat Covid-19 seriously, but no need to live in fear: PM, Oct 10).
Patients themselves know (because they feel surprisingly well despite a positive diagnosis) that most of the time the symptoms of the disease are mild, but when promised calls from the ministry and telemedicine providers do not materialise, frustration and anxiety that they are missing vital bits of the puzzle mount.
Such promises should not have been made and probably were not necessary to begin with.
Most patients want to recover from home but need to know what the serious symptoms to look out for are - information that was to be provided by telemedicine providers, but which the media can also educate them on.
Breathlessness, racking coughs, chest pain, lethargy and restlessness beyond what is normally felt in a flu, unremitting fever or fever that relapses, severe headaches, vomiting or diarrhoea, blood oxygen levels that fall persistently below 95 per cent saturation - these are symptoms that call for more action than continued home recovery.

If patients are given clear instructions on going to a community healthcare centre where triage can be instituted for hospitalisation if necessary, a lot of uncertainty would be resolved.
Viruses mutate, and even as they can become more transmissible than the present Covid-19 Delta variant, more often they become less virulent and host and pathogen then coexist.
The pandemic then becomes an almost non-event for which micromanagement is unnecessary as almost everyone is vaccinated and has immunity, with the virus causing some minor effects when it strikes.
Simplistically, if we get 5,000 cases daily out of a population of five million, or one in a thousand, cumulatively all of us would have crossed paths with the virus within three years.
Micromanagement would then be superfluous and broadsword measures sufficient. There is nothing to fear but fear itself.

Yik Keng Yeong (Dr)

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Hawkers say they have 'no time' to check vaccination status, many rely on safe-distancing ambassadors​

A woman shows her vaccination status to a safe-distancing ambassador at Tiong Bahru Market on Oct 13, 2021, the first day of new vaccination-differentiated measures in Singapore. (Photo: Calvin Oh)

Grace Yeoh​

@GraceYeohCNA
13 Oct 2021

SINGAPORE: Vaccination-differentiated safe management measures kicked in at hawker centres and coffee shops on Wednesday (Oct 13), but hawkers whom CNA spoke to said they didn't have time to check their customers' vaccination status as it was "troublesome".
Under the new rule, only fully vaccinated people can dine in at these places.
Instead, the hawkers said they relied on safe-distancing ambassadors stationed at the entrance of hawker centres to do the job.
"We don't check. It is troublesome. Outside there, (the safe-distancing ambassadors) check once at the entrance already. I'm okay with that," said Mr Hussein Rashid, 68, an employee of Kelate at Beo Crescent Market.
Last Saturday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced that fully vaccinated individuals may continue to enter shopping malls or dine in at hawker centres and coffee shops from Wednesday, but only in groups of up to two people. Those who are unvaccinated can still take away food.
Under the vaccination-differentiated measures, children aged 12 years and below, recovered individuals and unvaccinated people with a valid pre-event test result can be included in the group of two.

A safe-distancing ambassador taking pictures of patrons coming in and out of Beo Crescent Market on Oct 13, 2021, the first day of new vaccination-differentiated measures in Singapore. (Photo: Calvin Oh)
The measures will be "implemented in a very pragmatic way", said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu on Tuesday.
"So at our hawker centres and coffee shops, we require operators to remind their patrons, that if they are not vaccinated that they shouldn't dine in."
Ms Fu said there will also be posters and public announcement systems, where applicable, to "constantly remind" diners who are unvaccinated that they should not be dining in.
Coffee shops will also be required to check a diner's vaccination status at a fixed point, such as their drink stalls or coffee stalls.

A man shows a safe-distancing ambassador his vaccination status at Tiong Bahru Market on Oct 13, 2021, the first day of new vaccination-differentiated measures in Singapore. (Photo: Calvin Oh)

"NO TIME TO CHECK"​

When CNA visited Tiong Bahru Market at around lunchtime on Wednesday, an employee of L21 Hot & Cold Beverages who only wanted to be known as Ms Wong said there was simply "no time to check" each customer's vaccination status.
"Some people can’t accept (the new vaccination-differentiated measures). Some people might not be vaccinated, and when you ask them if they are vaccinated, they might not want to buy coffee anymore," she told CNA in Mandarin.
Customers also told CNA that they were not asked to show their vaccination status when they placed their orders, such as those at Oikos Western Delight in Chinatown Complex.
An Oikos worker also expressed confusion and said he didn't know if he was supposed to check their status.
But safe-distancing ambassadors were seen at Beo Crescent Market, Tiong Bahru Market and Chinatown Complex, checking customers' vaccination status before they entered the premises.
At standalone restaurants like Old Tiong Bahru Bak Kut Teh, however, such checks were done by employees themselves.
"Some older folks get angry, but can't be helped. But most are vaccinated so it's not too much trouble," said employee Jason Tan, 38, in Mandarin.
"In the end, it's just about helping each other out. You help me, I help you."

Patrons dining in at Beo Crescent Market on Oct 13, 2021, the first day of new vaccination-differentiated measures in Singapore. (Photo: Calvin Oh)

The lunch crowd at Beo Crescent Market on Oct 13, 2021, the first day of new vaccination-differentiated measures in Singapore. (Photo: Calvin Oh)

TURNING AWAY THE UNVACCINATED​

Safe-distancing ambassadors on the ground said they had not run into particularly difficult customers yet. But they added that the new rules take time to implement.
"When customers see the advisory poster, they will automatically show me their vaccination status even before I ask. But I will ask the elderly ones," said a 51-year-old safe-distancing ambassador at Chinatown Complex, who only wanted to be known as Mr Yun.
He said that if unvaccinated elderly folks insist on entering, he "will just let them go", but he will strongly advise them to only order takeaways.
"A few" unvaccinated customers at Beo Crescent Market wanted to dine in, but had to be turned away, said another safe-distancing ambassador, who only wanted to be known as Adam.
The 34-year-old spent about 15 minutes explaining the situation to an elderly man who would only become fully vaccinated on Oct 15.
"(With customers like this), we just advise them and try to educate them. Some will listen," he said.
"Some (older folks) also don't have their TraceTogether token or the app because they don't have a phone. So they have to show us a letter that says they've been vaccinated."
Inspections may be done at selected hours, added Ms Fu on Tuesday. And they may be conducted more frequently at hawker centres and coffee shops where there may be large numbers of unvaccinated seniors gathering.
Those who breach the vaccination-differentiated measures will be warned and have their particulars recorded, said the National Environment Agency and Singapore Food Agency in a media release last Saturday.
"Enforcement action will be taken against repeat offenders and those who refuse to cooperate," they added.

An advisory put up at the entrance of Chinatown Complex, Oct 13, 2021, the first day of new vaccination-differentiated measures in Singapore. (Photo: Calvin Oh)

Patrons taking away food at Tiong Bahru market on Oct 13, 2021, the first day of new vaccination-differentiated measures in Singapore. (Photo: Calvin Oh)

DO VACCINATED DINERS FEEL SAFER?​

But there were mixed feelings over the new measures.
"A hawker centre is well-controlled. But once you're out there, it's a different situation altogether," said Mr John Lim, 44, a customer at Tiong Bahru Market.
"I feel safe because I'm vaccinated, but I still do the usual things, like mask up and take the usual precautions. COVID is still around.
"But the (new measures specifically) don't make me feel any safer."
On the other hand, 25-year-old Ms Natasha Tan said the restrictions eased her concerns for her grandparents and parents.
"Even though it's an open space, it's a mask-off situation. So of course with the new restrictions, I do feel it's much safer," she said.
"I'm sure there are some (unvaccinated) people with health restrictions or they're not educated enough ... so given that, I feel bad for them. I'm not sure where they can go to eat. For the elderly, hawker centres are the one-stop place to go."
But she added that "these steps need to be taken" as the country moves towards living with COVID-19 as an endemic disease.
"You just need to start closing off the radius that non-vaccinated people are able to venture, then maybe they will understand the importance of getting vaccinated."
Editor's Note: Following clarifications by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, this article has been updated to remove reference to the need for operators of hawker centres and coffeeshops to remind patrons as they walk in that if they are not vaccinated that they shouldn’t dine-in.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Queues form at malls as vaccination status checks begin under new Covid-19 measures​

Mall patrons queueing to get their vaccination status and SafeEntry checked at the entrance of Heartland Mall on Oct 13, 2021.

ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN
Anjali Raguraman, Tay Hong Yi and Isabelle Liew

Oct 13, 2021

SINGAPORE - Some malls across the island started putting up signs and notices from Wednesday (Oct 13) to inform shoppers that only those vaccinated will be able to enter.
At Nex mall in Serangoon, mall staff were seen putting up signs that read "Mandatory - entry for fully vaccinated shoppers only" at the entry points.
Meanwhile, Certis Cisco security officers were deployed at the entrance of Bedok Mall to check the vaccination status of customers.
Under stricter rules announced by the Government, unvaccinated people will not be allowed to enter malls and large standalone stores from Oct 20, with exceptions made for those who show proof that they need medical or childcare services.
Children aged 12 and below, unvaccinated people who have recovered from Covid-19, and those with a negative pre-event test (PET) result will also be permitted entry for the duration of the activity or service.
The measures were due to take effect on Wednesday, but a week's grace period from Oct 13 to Oct 19 was given to enable malls and large stores to adjust to the new restrictions.

During the grace period, malls will be required to check patrons' vaccination status but can let in those who do not meet the requirements. They also have to remind patrons of the new rules.
When ST visited two other malls on Wednesday, their staff were seen struggling with the influx of patrons as they manually checked the patrons' vaccination status.
At Junction 8, a queue formed at one of the entrances after 10am, as most people activated their TraceTogether app to show their vaccination status only when asked.
Notices on the vaccination-differentiation rules were also being set up at the entrances.

The notices stated that children aged 12 and below will be required to show their student pass for identification while food delivery personnel not in uniform need to show proof of the pick-up via their food delivery app. Those working in the mall have to show their mall entry pass.
Some patrons thought the new measures should have been announced earlier to give people more time to get fully vaccinated.
A man in his 40s who wanted to be known only as Mr Lau said: "This is bad policy planning... The measures should have been announced long ago, three to four weeks before roll-out so people can get fully vaccinated with both jabs first."
He also did not see the necessity for more checks inside the mall, such as at the eateries.

​

"It is ridiculous to have your vaccination status checked multiple times within the same building and it will only cause bottlenecks," he said.
At VivoCity, there was also a queue waiting to enter the mall from a HarbourFront MRT station exit from 10am despite the mall stationing two staff members to check shoppers' vaccination status.
Some patrons, like retired polytechnic lecturer Lau Chung Sing, 75, did not mind the wait to enter the mall.
"I feel safer with these new measures," he said. "It's so easy to contract the virus these days at crowded places like food courts, so I'm quite worried. But I still have to get my food."
An unvaccinated patron who wanted to be known only as Ms Sue, 40, is making the most of the current grace period for malls before the rules kick in on Oct 20.
"I'm going to go out every day this week to meet people, and use up some vouchers," said Ms Sue, who was worried she would be stopped from entering malls on Wednesday.

She added that she will also be going to Spotlight at Plaza Singapura to "stock up on things I cannot get next week".
She does not plan to get vaccinated, saying: "I'm not going to get vaccinated because we have to continue getting booster shots. When they force us to take booster shots every six months, you don't know what they are going to do next."

 

[Johnrambo]

More at https://is.qd/lkdvzR (scroll down to read)

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

MOM investigating Covid-19 healthcare lapses at dorm in Jurong​

MOM said early investigations at the dorm found that there were delays in sending Covid-19-positive workers to recovery facilities.

PHOTO: ST FILE
Samuel Sashant Devaraj

Oct 14, 2021


SINGAPORE - Ministry of Manpower (MOM) officers have found lapses in healthcare protocols at a migrant workers dormitory in Jurong.
These include delays in sending workers who tested positive for Covid-19 from their rooms to a recovery facility.
Forward Assurance and Support Team (Fast) officers visited the dorm in Jalan Tukang on Wednesday (Oct 13) after claims surfaced involving a breach of healthcare protocols and lack of access to medical support, as well as poor quality of catered food.
The Singapore Police Force also responded to a call for assistance to the dormitory at about 12.55pm, said MOM, in response to queries from The Straits Times.
The claims were made in an online report on the Chinese news portal Weixin.
Earlier, there were reports that several men had gathered outside the dorm in the afternoon.


MOM said early investigations found that there were delays in sending workers who tested positive for Covid-19, from their rooms to a dormitory recovery facility or centralised recovery facility.
The MOM statement said: "We are working on transferring those who required further medical care to the appropriate healthcare facilities for treatment.
"Roommates of positive cases were allowed to return to work upon producing a negative antigen rapid test (ART) result."
Dormitory residents who wished to see a doctor were taken to a regional medical centre daily and have been given access to telemedicine, the statement added.
MOM said it has also deployed mobile clinical teams to help take care of the needs of workers.
Dormitory residents, it added, have been given three meals a day by their employer.
However, the employer has been apprised of feedback from the workers on the quality of the catered food, MOM said.

The employer, it added, has since engaged workers about the issue, and to find out if they have other concerns.
MOM said it will continue to work with all stakeholders - including dormitory operators and employers - to take care of and ensure the well-being of migrant workers.
It said: "We also seek feedback from workers through the existing channels, such as through our Fast officers on-ground or through the dormitory operator."

 

[Incognito]

As young as aged 23 has passed away after infected with Covid-19. I am 55 years old. Last year, no vaccine and doctor advised me to WFH. My supervisor kept pushing me to office. Even deprived me from monetary reward. This is completely disappointing and not acceptable. Although there is no retrenchment, I'm living in great fear. Don't think a big bank (the logo is with a china junk) should do such a thing on their employees at such a difficult time.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

But PAP government sure flip-flopped after Cotton Chan said there was no need to wear masks at the start of the pandemic.

S'pore's Covid-19 strategy not a 'flip-flop', helps prevent massive number of deaths: Ong Ye Kung​

Covid-19 infection numbers have shot up in recent weeks and there have been more related deaths.PHOTO: ST FILE

Clara Chong

Oct 18, 2021


SINGAPORE - In managing the Covid-19 pandemic, Singapore did not take a purist "zero-Covid" or "living with Covid" approach, but adopted an eradication strategy when the population was vulnerable before opening up progressively after vaccination had given Singaporeans a protective shield.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said this on Monday morning (Oct 18) in his opening address at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Asia-Pacific Conference.
"Some may feel that this middle-of-the-road approach is unclear, and may even appear to be a 'flip-flop'. But it has helped us avert the massive deaths that many countries have suffered from," Mr Ong said.
"It is the correct approach for Singapore and, day by day, we are moving closer to the light at the end of the tunnel."
Covid-19 infection numbers have shot up in recent weeks and there have been more related deaths. The Health Ministry is hence mobilising more manpower resources, such as from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) swab operations which the ministry is doing less of. A total of 1,600 trained volunteers have stepped forward to help.
Healthcare protocols have also been simplified and the ministry is also roping in private sector hospitals to help share the burden.



Under the new protocols, there will only be three sets of rules: people who have symptoms and test positive; those with no symptoms but test positive; and close contacts of a positive case.
Mild symptoms include cough, runny nose, sore throat, body ache, diarrhoea and headache, with or without fever. Severe symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure and loss of speech or movement.
This simpler set of rules for Covid-19 patients and their close contacts were rolled out from Oct 11, bringing an end to quarantine orders and leave of absence notices.
The aim is to make healthcare protocols easier to understand and reduce the burden on Government resources, including phone operators and quarantine officers.
The new rules override some existing ones, and come with built-in “expiration dates”, meaning that people are able to resume daily life after a preset amount of time rather than waiting for official test results.
They also mean that Singapore’s Covid-19 strategy now relies heavily on antigen rapid tests, which typically produce results in 15 minutes and can be self-administered.
Results from PCR tests, which are processed in laboratories, take six hours to up to 12 hours for clinically urgent cases.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Senior in week of fear after clinic mistakenly informed her she tested positive for Covid-19​

Madam Tan Poh Choo received a message from My Family Clinic informing her that she had tested positive for Covid-19.
PHOTOS: JESSIE LIM, SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS

Jessie Lim

Oct 19, 2021

SINGAPORE - When Madam Tan Poh Choo, 70, received a message on Oct 2 informing her that she had tested positive for Covid-19, she was shocked.
She had no symptoms, no pain and had not visited My Family Clinic - which sent the message - since June.
Speaking to Chinese-language newspaper Shin Min Daily News, the housewife said she spent one week in fear after a slip-up by the clinic, which had mistakenly mixed her up with another patient with the same name who had a positive PCR test result.
While the clinic's staff from its St George's Road branch called her on Oct 4 to inform her of the mistake, she only received official confirmation that she was not a Covid-19 case on Oct 9.
This meant that for a week, Madam Tan did not dare to leave the two-room Housing Board flat she shared with her husband as she did not receive any authorisation to do so.
And when she received a call on Oct 5 asking her to pack her belongings to move to a facility for isolation, she was so scared she burst into tears.

She told Shin Min: "When I received the call, my mind was blank. I didn't want to leave my family but I was more worried of being alone by myself in an isolation facility."
In response to queries from The Straits Times, My Family Clinic said: "It was a regrettable error on our part due to the mix-up of identical names and heavy patient load during this period of time.
"When the error was detected, our clinic staff reached out to (the Ministry of Health's) Case Management Task Group immediately to rectify the records."
It added: "Our clinic staff visited Madam Tan on three different days at her residence as a form of support and (to render) assistance in managing inquiries."
My Family Clinic said: "We treat this matter seriously and have since strengthened our processes."
Madam Tan told Shin Min that she had feared the potential stigma attached to being seen by her neighbours if she had to be escorted away by healthcare workers to a community isolation facility.
She said: "Actually, even if someone gets the virus, we shouldn't view them in a different light because nobody wants to fall sick."
Still, it was a relief when her TraceTogether test status was finally cleared on Oct 11 - nine days after she was first notified.