Singapore Warns of Complacency as New Virus Infections Surge

(Bloomberg) --

A top Singaporean official warned against complacency in the face of a resurgence in Covid-19 cases, saying the affluent island nation needs to impose longer-term changes to deal with a rapidly evolving epidemic.

Singapore, which is grappling with a likely economic slowdown, has seen a spike in new coronavirus infections, experiencing the largest single-day increase this month. The country must now prepare for a “new normal,” Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran told Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin on Wednesday.

The epidemic hit just as Singapore -- a major trading center -- is grappling with economic uncertainty from the U.S.-China trade war. With 166 confirmed cases and counting, it’s considering further social distancing measures, including school closures and suspending public events and religious services.

Other cities in the region like Hong Kong and Japan have already taken such steps. In Hong Kong, schools have been closed since January and won’t re-open until April at the earliest, while many professionals are working from home.

The resurgence of new cases of infection in Singapore after a relative lull is underscoring concerns that the highly-infectious pathogen will come back in waves to Asian countries which have seemingly weathered a first spike.

The picture in Singapore, which had received global attention for its efficient efforts to contain the virus, has changed in the past week. There have been 54 new cases since Mar. 5, over twice the number of the week before. Discharged patients no longer outpace newly discovered cases, although there are still no deaths arising from the disease locally.

Globally, over 118,000 people have been sickened and over 4,200 killed in the epidemic.

Singapore’s new cluster stems from a Feb. 15 dinner event at a recreational club which has been linked to almost 40 cases of infection.

“It was premature to perceive Singapore’s epidemic as under control, as we know there is asymptomatic transmission and that some cases may have been missed,” said Raina MacIntyre, professor of infectious diseases at the University of New South Wales. “There could have been undetected chains of transmission in the community as a result.”

Iswaran stopped short Wednesday of outlining specific measures, though a separate minister said this week they’re also reviewing large-scale events like the National Day parade to be held in August.

“We cannot be complacent because this is a very dynamic situation and we’re discovering new things every day in terms of the spread globally and in terms of the nature of the virus,” he said. Singapore will “get our population accustomed to the idea that some of the changes we are putting in place may in fact have to be in place for a longer period and maybe even on a more permanent basis.”

--With assistance from Yoolim Lee, Anand Menon and Haslinda Amin.

To contact the reporter on this story: Philip J. Heijmans in Singapore at pheijmans1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, ;Rachel Chang at wchang98@bloomberg.net, Joyce Koh, Edwin Chan

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