Friday marks the 26th day of the current wave, which typically peaks between four and eight weeks.
Cases in Singapore have been doubling every week, with the average number of daily cases increasing from 146 a fortnight ago, to 682 in the past week. Over 98 per cent of these cases have exhibited no or mild symptoms. Only 1.6 per cent and 0.1 per cent of total infections over the last 28 days required oxygen supplementation and are in critical condition in the intensive care unit respectively.
"We are not the first country to have gone through this baptism of fire, and we will not be the last," Ong cautioned.
If the current rate of infection persists, which is "rising faster than expected", he observed, Singapore could see 2,000 daily new cases next month.
"But what we are quite clear, is that you can't sustain many rounds or doubling, even when we have a very small conversion into oxygen supplementation needs or ICU care," Ong said, noting that the next two weeks would be crucial, especially in determining whether Singapore will run out of ICU beds and overburden hospitals as a whole.
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Coronavirus pandemic
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