Singapore— Newly-minted Health Minister Ong Ye Kung wants to wait and watch before opting for a circuit breaker, but netizens are urging him to act fast in view of the rising Covid-19 cases.
At a press conference held by the multi-ministry task force (MTF) on Covid-19 on Sunday (May 16), a reporter from CNA asked him: “Bearing in mind the large number of community cases which we haven’t seen since the last circuit breaker, can I ask what’s your response to calls to go back into full circuit breaker?”
Mr Ong, who started his tenure as Health Minister on Saturday (May 15), acknowledged the recent rise in community cases, but added that which direction the pandemic takes remains to be seen, given the new restrictions enforced.
But if even more restrictions are needed, they will be carried out, he added. And if it should come to that, Mr Ong said, “If it’s a CB, we will say it’s a CB.”
He underlined that this is “a particularly difficult time” to answer the journalist’s question.
“All I can say is as of now, we need to monitor the situation and then come to a decision later.”
He said some questions need to be answered, including how effective the new restrictions are, before deciding whether it’s time to return to a circuit breaker.
The authorities would “really seek answers to these questions and when the time is right, we will make the right decisions,” he added.
However, some netizens seem to feel that more pro-active endeavours are already needed.
This, others feel, would be more advisable than waiting.
At least one commenter wrote she was “unconvinced” by Mr Ong.
Others called for border closures. 
/TISG
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/TISG