Lawrence Wong: S’pore cannot afford to be complacent as ICU patients with Covid-19 can go up quickly

Singapore — As the number of local Covid-19 cases continue to increase, people cannot afford to be complacent and assume intensive care unit (ICU) figures will remain low, said Finance Minister Lawrence Wong on Sunday (Sept 19).

“We’ve explained before that we are watching the ICU cases closely to ensure our hospital system is not overwhelmed,” said Mr Wong in a Facebook post.

Others informed Mr Wong that with Singapore’s high vaccination rate and current ICU figure of 14, “we don’t have to worry.”

“But in fact, the ICU numbers can change very quickly, and we cannot afford to be complacent,” said Mr Wong.

He also clarified two points regarding how the Covid-19 vaccine works and statistics.

“The vaccine does confer excellent protection against severe illness. But we also know that the protection is not 100 per cent,” said Mr Wong.

According to Ministry of Health (MOH) data, about 0.2 per cent of infected cases are at risk of needing ICU care, he added.

Mr Wong noted that while the number might be small, when applied to a large and exponentially rising base of infected people, the numbers in ICU can grow very quickly.

Furthermore, the length of time in ICU for an individual is more than two weeks.

“If we have more seniors or unvaccinated persons who are infected, then the percentage of infected persons who need ICU will be much higher than 0.2 per cent.”

“This is why we must never assume our ICU figures will continue to stay low or that our ICU capacity will never be put to the test,” said Mr Wong.

He highlighted that the following one to two weeks would be critical as authorities monitor the trajectory of transmission and the healthcare situation.

“Meanwhile, you can do your part to slow down the transmission and protect yourself and your loved ones,” said Mr Wong.

He advised scaling down on non-essential social activities, particularly seniors or those living with seniors.

Mr Wong added regular testing and compliance with safe management measures are other ways to slow down transmission.

MOH reported 1,012 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, with 919 in the community, 90 in the migrant worker dormitories and three imported cases.

There are 873 cases currently warded in hospital, of which most are well and under observation.

MOH also reported 118 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation and 21 in critical condition in the ICU. /TISG

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