Singapore — The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced that individuals who tested positive for the Covid-19 Omicron variant would be allowed to recover at home – a decision deemed a good thing by former Nominated Member of Parliament Calvin Cheng.
MOH said in a press release on Sunday (Dec 26) that authorities were changing their approach to managing Omicron cases.
Beginning Monday (Dec 27), MOH will be allowing Omicron cases to recover at home under the home recovery programme or managed at community care facilities instead of being isolated in dedicated facilities by default.
Those who are unwell will be processed based on both their clinical presentation (symptoms and physical signs) and underlying risk factors, said MOH.
Individuals would follow a time-based discharge of 10 days for vaccinated persons or children younger than 12 years old or 14 days for the unvaccinated.
Persons who are well but test positive will continue to self-test and self-manage, including using antigen rapid tests (ART), to discharge from the third day onwards.
The decision brings Omicron-positive cases in the same category of health protocols for those with other Covid-19 variants.
Meanwhile, close contacts of Omicron cases will be issued a seven-day health risk warning, requiring them to self-test with ART daily before leaving their homes.
The previous measures for close contacts involved quarantining at dedicated facilities for 10 days.
MOH added that those currently in quarantine would be progressively discharged over the next few days.
“The adjustments in our approach for managing local Omicron cases will allow us to focus our healthcare resources on severe cases and protecting the vulnerable settings,” said MOH.
“It also allows us to go back to having a single streamlined approach to manage Covid-19, regardless of Covid-19 viral strains, which will facilitate operations on the ground and compliance to the protocols.”
Commenting on the announcement, Mr Cheng said it was a “very good” decision that would give Singapore a win.
Mr Cheng also urged everyone to “stop overacting.”
“Let’s stop overreacting. Omicron should be allowed to spread and vaccinated people will do fine. Unvaccinated old people especially will probably die but that’s their choice,” he added.
On Sunday, there were 209 new Covid-19 cases reported. A total of 104 new Omicron cases were confirmed, of whom 31 are local and 73 imported.
“Given the transmissibility of Omicron and the open nature of our society, it is inevitable that Omicron will spread in our community, as it has in over 100 countries already,” said MOH.
It is to be expected that the number of cases rapidly double in the coming days and weeks, it added.
“We have done whatever we can to prepare ourselves for it; especially in administering boosters to our population and starting vaccinations for our children. We seek the cooperation and understanding of everyone, as we weather through an Omicron wave in the next one to two months.” /TISG
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