Experts say SG can move closer to treating Covid like influenza

Singapore—Infectious disease specialist Dr Paul Tambyah recently sounded an optimistic note about the pandemic’s direction in light of new findings about the Omicron variant.

Dr Tambyah is president of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection and also president-elect of the International Society of Infectious Diseases

Information from preliminary studies indicates that the newest variant causes less severe illness than the Delta strain, although the infection spreads much more easily.

“Now that we know that the Omicron variant is probably a lot less virulent than the previous dominant strains, we can move closer back to treating Covid-19 like other potentially deadly contagious respiratory infections such as tuberculosis or influenza,” The Straits Times (ST) quoted Dr Tambyah saying this week.

“All indications point to a lesser severity of omicron versus delta,” said Dr Anthony Fauci, the top health advisor of US President Joseph Biden and director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

This has also been shown by studies in South Africa, where the variant  was first identified, as well as from an Imperial College London study.

The Straits Time report also quoted Professor Dale Fisher, a senior consultant at the National University Hospital’s Division of Infectious Diseases and other infectious disease experts.

Dr Fisher said that for Singapore, Omicron will not be a national threat, because of the country’s high vaccination rate. Some 87 per cent of the total population are already fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

“Singapore is realising the strategy of Covid resilience, such that as new variants arise, they can be dealt with quite easily,” he said.

So, since Dec 27, people infected with the Omicron variant  have been allowed to recover at home or in community care facilities, instead of being isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) or at dedicated facilities.

However, since the new variant is much more transmissible,  the infection rate in Singapore may rise more dramatically than did the earlier waves of Delta infections.

But Dr Fisher thinks that if this does not result in  more severe  cases, increase hospitalisations, or put more patients in ICU,  the increase will not matter very much.

He added, “We shouldn’t panic just because we see more cases. I do expect this to occur with Omicron and indeed with future variants and even seasonal fluctuations.”

/TISG

Read also: Calvin Cheng on OMICRON cases being allowed to recover at home: “Very good. We win. Turtles lose.”

Calvin Cheng on OMICRON cases being allowed to recover at home: “Very good. We win. Turtles lose.”