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jw5

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So happy at getting booster shots.

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OYK talks about equality between the genders.

Ong Ye Kung

3 hrs ·
Both my daughters are now university students, and have much less time for their parents.
My wife naturally feels the empty nest syndrome, and family life will increasingly be just the two of us. We have gone into a new phase of family life where we realise what family life is going to be like.
- Two of us sharing a lifelong companionship, standing by and supporting each other, as equals.
- At the same time, continue to nurture two young (almost) adult daughters, so that they can step out of our shadows, excel in their chosen fields and contribute to society, and surpass us.
So in a way, my purpose in life since the day I got married has been #ActionForHer.
But through this campaign, we bring our personal experiences and messages to the wider #Singapore audience, that our action as a spouse, parent, employer, colleague, friend, makes a difference in upholding the value of equality between men and women, so everyone in Singapore can be given equal opportunities, choose their own paths, and be the best they can be.

 

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OYK provides some data.

Ong Ye Kung

10 hrs ·
Ministry of Health, Singapore put out an important set of data this week.
It shows that the chance of someone infected with COVID-19 coming down with severe illness, depends a lot on age and vaccination status (there is a third factor, which is whether he/she has underlying illnesses but that is not captured in the data).
For example, from 1 May to 16 Sep 2021, no one fully vaccinated and under the age of 70 had been admitted to ICU or died from COVID-19.
A fully vaccinated person in his/her 70s has better chances of not falling very sick as an unvaccinated person in his/her 30s (0.38% vs 0.84%).
Similarly, a fully vaccinated person in his/her 80s becomes like an unvaccinated person in his/her 40s or 50s (1.79% vs 1.37%/1.94%).
On the other hand, unvaccinated seniors are at signficiant risk of falling very sick when infected — over 15% for those above 80 years old.
There is no doubt that if our people had not come forward in big numbers to vaccinate ourselves, our healthcare system would have been overwhelmed by now.
Over 98% of those infected have no or mild symptoms, and tend to stay that way until they recover.
That is why we are encouraging younger, fully vaccinated people to recover from home, and admit patients to community care facilities instead of hospitals, and also setting up more community care facilities, which will be ready this coming week.
This is so that hospital beds, A&E services go to those who need it most. Our ICU capacity is still holding up, but it is A&E and general wards that are coming under pressure. Our hospitals and healthcare workers cannot be over burdened. At this point, this is MOH’s biggest challenge and we are doing our best to solve this.

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from yahoo.com:

Surge in Singapore COVID cases 'much earlier' than expected: Ong Ye Kung​


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SINGAPORE — Singapore's current surge in COVID-19 cases came much earlier than authorities had hoped for, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Friday (17 September), a day after the city-state reported 910 new infections – the highest since 1 May last year.

"We had hoped that this transmission wave can come later, maybe at Transition Stage B, but it has presented itself much earlier largely because Delta is so much more infectious," he said during a virtual doorstop interview.

Since 10 August, Singapore has been in the first stage – or the Preparatory Stage – of a four-part road map towards endemic COVID-19. The other three stages are Transition Stage A, Transition Stage B, and lastly, COVID-19 Resilient Nation.

While this "major wave of transmission" came earlier than expected here, it is inevitable for every country that has decided to live with the virus, said Ong, who is the COVID-19 multi-ministry taskforce co-chair.

"This is almost like a rite of passage before humans and the virus achieve a new equilibrium and things stabilise," he stressed.

High vaccination rate in Singapore​

However, Ong noted that Singapore is going through the current COVID-19 wave after about 80 per cent of the population have been fully vaccinated against the disease, as opposed to other countries which encountered the wave very early in the pandemic, incurring many casualties.

Friday marks the 26th day of the current wave, which typically peaks between four and eight weeks.

Cases in Singapore have been doubling every week, with the average number of daily cases increasing from 146 a fortnight ago, to 682 in the past week. Over 98 per cent of these cases have exhibited no or mild symptoms. Only 1.6 per cent and 0.1 per cent of total infections over the last 28 days required oxygen supplementation and are in critical condition in the intensive care unit respectively.

"We are not the first country to have gone through this baptism of fire, and we will not be the last," Ong cautioned.

If the current rate of infection persists, which is "rising faster than expected", he observed, Singapore could see 2,000 daily new cases next month.

"But what we are quite clear, is that you can't sustain many rounds or doubling, even when we have a very small conversion into oxygen supplementation needs or ICU care," Ong said, noting that the next two weeks would be crucial, especially in determining whether Singapore will run out of ICU beds and overburden hospitals as a whole.

Default home recovery programme​

Expanding the home recovery programme to make it a default arrangement for eligible COVID-19 patients aged 12 to 69 – up from 50 previously – will help address such uncertainties. This will start from Saturday.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) director of medical services Kenneth Mak noted that the number of severely ill cases is not rising in sync with the total number of infections here.

This trend in cases is being watched closely and if it continues to follow a similar "disconnect" between the number of community cases with those hospitalised, Singapore "may actually be alright and the healthcare resources we have would be well able to cope", he added.

But Associate Professor Mak noted that while the indications are encouraging at this point, the data collected is still at a very early stage.

"We do need to look at the situation over the next two weeks to better understand whether that trend continues," he reiterated.
 

Confuseous

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Health standards are now based on hospital capability, but not the degree of sickness or safety levels
required for hospitalisation?
 

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OYK wishes everyone Happy Mid-Autumn Festival.

Ong Ye Kung

12 hrs ·
Mid-Autumn Festival is a good time for families to get together and enjoy the festivities. I’m glad to see families enjoying our series of Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations at #Sembawang.
I wish everyone a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
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#MakeSembawangSpecial


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OYK announces arrival of new Sinovac stock.



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Ong Ye Kung​

Yesterday at 21:25 ·

Today, 101,000 doses of new Sinovac stock arrived on our shores. These were orders from private healthcare institutions that Ministry of Health, Singapore helped facilitate to bring into #Singapore under the SAR route.

They will benefit individuals such as those who were allergic to the mRNA vaccines.

About 2% of our population has taken at least one dose of the Sinovac vaccine, administered by MOH and approved private clinics.

With the stocks refreshed, it will be available at some of the clinics in a few days.
 

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from straitstimes.com:

Younger, fully vaccinated Covid-19 patients should recover at home amid strained hospitals: Ong Ye Kung​


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SINGAPORE - While the overall intensive care unit (ICU) capacity is holding up, the Singapore healthcare system's accident and emergency (A&E) departments, as well as general wards, are "coming under pressure", Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Sunday (Sept 19).

"Our hospitals and healthcare workers cannot be overburdened. At this point, this is MOH's biggest challenge and we are doing our best to solve this," Mr Ong said in a Facebook post, adding that this is why younger, fully vaccinated people are being encouraged to recover at home.

His comments come a day after the Ministry of Health (MOH) said some public hospitals here have been experiencing a surge in patients who have rushed to A&E departments with mild respiratory infection symptoms.

Although MOH did not specify which hospitals it was referring to, public hospitals had put up announcements last week alluding to the situation.

Last Tuesday, Singapore General Hospital put up a Facebook post saying it was seeing a high number of patients at its emergency department, and said priority would be given to the critically ill.

"If your condition is not critical, please seek medical attention at a general practitioner (GP) or polyclinic," said the hospital.

The National University Hospital put up a similar post on Friday.

And on Sunday, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) announced on its Facebook page that it had been receiving higher than usual Covid-19 positive and suspected cases, both via walk-ins and ambulance, at its Emergency Department.

“The last week has been rough,” said the hospital in its post.

TTSH said that in addition to tending to other emergency cases, its Emergency Department also has to triage Covid-19 cases to decide where they should be sent for treatment. Those who have the disease are admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, while those who are suspected cases are admitted to designated wards at TTSH.

It added that those who are stable are sent home or to community care facilities to recover.

Reiterating the need for non-emergency cases to seek help at a GP or polyclinic instead, the hospital said: “With the surge in community cases, we are working hard to open more waiting and screening spaces, and activating more wards and staff to augment our Covid-19 response. There may hence be inconveniences such as a longer wait time, a rescheduled clinic appointment or visit restrictions. We ask ahead for your understanding and patience to ride this wave out together.”

Khoo Teck Puat Hospital said on Facebook on Sunday that it has been seeing increased numbers at its A&E department. "Priority is given to those who are critically ill, and the waiting time for other patients is expected to be longer," it said.

On Saturday, MOH urged those who have mild symptoms to avoid seeking treatment at the hospitals and consult a GP at a Swab and Send Home clinic instead.

"This allows those with more severe illnesses and who are in need of urgent care to be attended to quickly and helps to preserve hospital capacity for those who truly need hospital care," said MOH.

Mr Ong and the multi-ministry task force on Covid-19 that he chairs has repeatedly said a key measure of Singapore's fight against the coronavirus is whether its hospital system can cope with the number of cases.

In his post on Sunday, Mr Ong also highlighted data from MOH that showed the chance of someone infected with Covid-19 coming down with severe illness depends heavily on age and vaccination status.

For instance, from May 1 to last Thursday, no one fully vaccinated and under the age of 70 had been admitted to ICU or died from Covid-19.

The data also showed that 0.38 per cent of fully vaccinated patients in their 70s had either been admitted to the ICU or died from the disease. This was a lower rate than for unvaccinated patients in their 30s, of whom 0.84 per cent had been admitted to the ICU or died from the disease.

Mr Ong also noted that more than 98 per cent of those infected from May 1 to last Thursday had either no or mild symptoms, and tended to remain that way until recovery.

"That is why we are encouraging younger, fully vaccinated people to recover from home, and we admit patients to community care facilities instead of hospitals, and are also setting up more community care facilities, which will be ready this coming week," he wrote.

"This is so that hospital beds and A&E services go to those who need them most."


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from straitstimes.com:

Government monitoring hospital capacity closely as Covid-19 cases remain high: Ong Ye Kung​


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SINGAPORE - Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Tuesday (Sept 21) that the Government is monitoring hospital capacity closely and may have to impose more restrictions if the Covid-19 situation worsens.

Singapore already has a suite of measures in place, and to go further would be a "last resort", he added in Mandarin in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao.

But the Delta variant has continued to spread very quickly despite the measures currently in place, and daily cases have exceeded earlier projections, he noted.

There were 1,178 new Covid-19 cases reported on Tuesday, the third time in four days the number has exceeded 1,000.

Mr Ong said: "We had planned to have a preparatory period, during which we can gradually open up while handling perhaps 100 to 200 cases a day. But Delta did not wait for us to be ready and attacked us first."

"The fight against Delta is really like a war... and it can spring surprises which you never expected, so you have to be able to adapt and change strategies quickly."

He added that two factors are crucial in deciding if Singapore has reached a critical stage - the number of serious cases and hospital capacity.

And the Government has been keeping a close watch on both indicators to ensure that intensive care units and the healthcare system in general are not overwhelmed.

"If this does not work, then we will have to explain to people frankly about the need for tighter restrictions," said Mr Ong, one of three co-chairmen of the multi-ministry task force overseeing the national response to Covid-19.

Asked about his assessment of the current situation, Mr Ong said that as of last week, things were still under control. But he added that the situation changes daily.

He also noted that a new balance had to be struck with the virus, and people would have to learn how to co-exist with Covid-19.

At the current stage of the pandemic, it is no longer possible, and also futile, to go into protracted lockdowns, he said, noting that infection numbers will inevitably go up again once lockdowns are lifted.

At the same time, this does not mean Singapore should lift all restrictions and open up to the extent that countries like Britain and the United States have.

"What we need to do is to take the middle road, and everyone needs to adjust so that we can co-exist with the virus and find a new balance," he said.

He added that there was a difference between co-existing with Covid-19 and treating it as an endemic disease like influenza.

There are too many unknowns with Covid-19, which is also more lethal, he said, citing Professor Leo Yee Sin, the executive director of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, who had said it is too early to tell if it will become a disease like the flu.

The growing number of cases in recent days has sparked concern and anxiety, with some people asking if the Health Ministry could provide information about the places where multiple people were infected.

Asked about this, Mr Ong said that his ministry would try its best to announce where the clusters are, and to do so earlier in the day.

But he added that with most people vaccinated and not exhibiting symptoms when infected, it has become trickier to link cases and figure out how the virus is spreading.

Citing the outbreak at the Jurong Fishery Port, he said: "By the time it's discovered, the cases are already high, it's already too late. But if we find out early, we will definitely announce it as soon as possible, so people can be careful."

The cluster at the port, first detected in July, was closed earlier this month.

The minister also acknowledged that it was not possible for people to stay at home all the time, but advised them - in particular, the elderly - to pay attention to personal hygiene when out.

"Wear a mask, don't pull it down to talk to your friends. Try not to touch too many things and don't rub your eyes or pick your nose," he said.

"Paying attention to these things will have a great effect in preventing infections."
 

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OYK introduces CTF.

Ong Ye Kung

8 hrs ·
Yesterday, our first Community Treatment Facility (CTF) opened and received its first COVID 19 patients. It is converted from NTUC Health (Tampines) Nursing Home.
This is a very important part of our response. They are better equipped and resourced, and almost like hospital beds.
It will provide care for elderly COVID-19 patients who are stable, mildly symptomatic, clinically-well but with some underlying chronic illnesses or comorbidities. These patients need to be observed and monitored, but otherwise does not require the care required by hospital patients.
Woodlands Health is running this CTF and we can be assured that our elderly are in good hands.
We plan to set up more of such facilities. This will expand our healthcare system, while ensuring that those who need Intensive care and O2 supplementation receive it in the hospitals.
We thank NTUC Health for their support as we fight against COVID-19.

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jw5

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OYK explains Home Recovery Programme.

Ong Ye Kung is with Ministry of Health, Singapore and The Singapore Army.​

22 hrs ·
We are pooling all resources from both public and private agencies to give our best support to people under the Home Recovery Programme.
The Singapore Armed Forces has strengthened and augmented our ground operations.
Over the last two days, the operations team has been reaching out to those on Home Recovery, assign telemedicine providers, attend to queries and ensure home care pack is delivered if requested. Case management call centre has been enhanced considerably.
I want to assure everyone that those on the Home Recovery programme are not left alone to recover. Many are well and with only mild or no symptoms as all were vaccinated. We have ramped up the system and ironed out many teething issues.
I am grateful to many who have stepped up to help. We are putting every effort to get this right, and give everyone on the programme the proper support, including medical attention should the need arise.

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May be an image of 5 people, people sitting and indoor


Ong Ye Kung​

23 hrs ·

The planners from the quarantine operations task group on a Saturday - they are a key touchpoint with persons under quarantine
 

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from msn.com:

Singapore to ramp up plans to handle 5,000 daily new COVID cases: Ong Ye Kung​


SINGAPORE — Singapore will start ramping up plans to be ready to handle 5,000 daily new COVID-19 cases, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Friday (24 September), amid an ongoing coronavirus surge that is rising much quicker than projected.

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His comments at a virtual media conference by the multi-ministry COVID-19 taskforce come after Singapore registered two consecutive days of record-high of new cases: 1,457 on Wednesday and followed by1,504 on Thursday.


Singapore is expected to enter the "fifth doubling cycle" with 3,200 new cases in eight days, said the taskforce co-chair.

"Whether it gallops there, or whether it slows down and reaches there slowly – this is something we need to observe. What we do know is that no transmission wave lasts forever," Ong noted, adding that despite strict safe management measures in place, "the Delta variant doesn't follow our script".

"It transmitted through the community and is driving up daily cases much more quickly than we expected before our ramped-up plans are fully implemented, before our support systems are fully in place," he added.

With the ramping up of ICU bed capacity and more resources assigned to the home recovery programme at a faster pace, Singapore's healthcare system can cope with 2,000 to 2,500 new cases a day but it will be "quite stretched", Ong said.

At about 1,600 daily new cases, Singapore is looking at about 26 cases per 100,000 population per day, he added.

"This is lower than what is experienced in UK and the US now, which are seeing about 40 to 50 cases, but higher than many other European countries seeing about seven to 10 cases, that have reached an equilibrium, such as Germany, France, Italy, Spain."

The exponential rise in infections over a very short period of time during the Preparatory Phase – in place since 19 August – has put Singapore's healthcare system and workers under tremendous pressure, Ong said.

Currently, over 40 per cent of new cases go on home recovery, with the proportion rising.

Finance Minister and co-chair Lawrence Wong thanked Singaporeans for minimising social activities to put a brake on the transmission of the virus.

"Unfortunately, despite our collective efforts, the virus continues to gain ground," he said, adding that numbers will continue to rise.

"In other words, we are not going back to a scenario of low daily cases anymore. It's not going to be possible because we are moving forward, to learn to live with the virus."

Wong stressed that the reproduction rate of the Delta variant without any safe management measures in place is "easily around five or six".

"We were able to bring the reproduction rate...down to about 1.5. That's already a significant reduction, he added. But even so, cases are still doubling every week or so, Wong stressed.

"And that's the reality. And to bring it further down requires a lot more effort."
 
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