S'pore Covid-19 infections stable from Dec 12 to 17

Experts say current surge not a cause for concern, urge public to act responsibly

- Salma Khalik

Covid-19 infections appear to have plateaued over the past week, from Dec 12 to 17. The seven-day moving average was 7,870 on Dec 12 and it went down slightly to 7,730 on Dec 17.

Professor Dale Fisher, a senior infectious diseases consultant at the National University Hospital (NUH), said: "It'll be a bell curve confounded by Christmas parties.

You don't know if it's peaked until after it's peaked." While the numbers remain high, experts say it is not a cause for concern, even though serious illness and deaths tend to lag infection figures. In the week of Dec 3 to 9, 763 people were hospitalised and 23 were admitted to intensive care units (ICU).

The Ministry of Health (MOH) is providing daily updates of Covid-19 figures from Dec 19 "to provide the latest information on the situation during this period of surge in cases".

Professor Paul Tambyah of NUH, speaking in his capacity as president of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, said there is no need for people to worry about the rising Covid-19 infection numbers.

Instead, they should "just be sensible about taking precautions about their health, not go to work or school if they are unwell and seek medical attention instead".