S’pore online community says “there is no consistency in daily Covid-19 assessment”

Singapore – Members of the public shared their concerns at the inconsistency with the daily Covid-19 update provided by the Ministry of Health, especially towards the increasing number of community cases.

In response to a straitstimes.com article on Friday (June 5) which noted 11 new community cases confirmed by MOH, netizens expressed their unease at the fluctuating numbers given that Covid-19 testing has been going on for more than two months already and the country just ended the Circuit Breaker period.

A summary of the MOH updates for the past week shows that there were no community cases reported on Monday (June 1), while four were found on Tuesday and another seven on Wednesday. There were 15 new community cases on Thursday and lastly, 11 on Friday.

There has also been a fluctuating trend with the swab testing which netizens pointed out. “Why fewer swabs again?” asked Richard Chan, who questioned the efficiency of the process. “Sounds like (they’re) just trying to give a false sense of security in the report,” said Jun Liang. “Up down! Down up! It’s just like you’re doing squats,” commented Ku La Sa.

In addition to releasing swab testing numbers, netizens perceive it would be more beneficial to provide the percentages that tested positive for Covid-19. “Otherwise the number doesn’t tell the situation.”

Others suggested switching the focus of testing from dormitories to those in the community as the situation is showing the same scenario. Therefore, it’s “more pressing to find out potential new clusters outside dorms,” said Catherine Chia SH.

It was only recently that the number of confirmed cases with work passes located outside dormitories was included in the “community” count. “They should have done that right from the beginning,” commented Victoria Xue. Doing so would give a more accurate reflection of the risks of exposure in the community, she added.

Sivadas Krishnan noted that there is no consistency in determining whether the situation is improving in the dorms. It would be better if the MOH advises the number of foreign workers that tested positive per 100 tested for any day, he said. A few replied to his comment adding the possibility of asymptomatic individuals being the cause for the continued triple-digit findings in confirmed cases.