Covid-19: 878 lives lost in Singapore so far this year 2022-12-05

Covid-19: 878 lives lost in Singapore so far this year

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/covid-19-878-lives-lost-in-singapore-so-far-this-year

Arvind Jayaram

Published

5 Dec 2022, 7:56 pm SGT

The coronavirus has claimed 878 lives in Singapore so far this year, more than the 828 deaths in the first two years of the pandemic combined, even as a semblance of normalcy returned to life in the Republic with the easing of pandemic restrictions.

Singapore has logged 1.89 million cases so far in 2022 alone – an increase of more than six-fold from the 279,405 infections seen at the end of 2021, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University based on Ministry of Health (MOH) figures - which experts say is reason enough to remind people not to be complacent.

The spike in Covid-19 numbers follows the lifting of most curbs on normal life in Singapore, while the highly transmissible but less deadly Omicron variant – which was first detected on Nov 24, 2021 – spread rapidly.

The good news is, however, that Singapore’s current Covid-19 mortality rate of 0.08 per cent is far below the global mortality rate of 1.03 per cent – indicating that Singapore has fared better than other countries in managing the disease.

“When immunity of the population was low, the restrictions saved many lives,” noted Professor Dale Fisher, a senior consultant at the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine at National University Hospital.

“But now we have to live with a new disease which is generally mild, and there is a low rate of severe disease in the vulnerable.”

When the first-ever Covid-19 deaths occurred in Singapore on March 21, 2020 – when two deaths were reported – the mortality rate of the disease stood at 0.46 per cent. The death rate peaked on April 4, 2020, at 0.50 per cent.

Deaths continue to occur in older individuals, in particular those who are unvaccinated or not up-to-date with their vaccinations, or who have various chronic medical conditions, said National Centre for Infectious Diseases clinical director Shawn Vasoo.

“This is an important population to reach out to – to encourage them to take up booster doses and also seek early medical attention when infected, so they may receive appropriate treatments,” he said.

When it comes to vaccines, misinformation continues to be a problem, and the same goes for complacency over preventive measures against the virus, said Dr Vasoo.

“Vaccine shots are only helpful if they end up being injected into an individual’s arm. As such, we need to continue to counter misinformation with credible, scientific information from reliable sources and reiterate that protecting ourselves also helps protect the people around us,” he said.

Prof Fisher said it is possible that better treatments will be found and that vaccines better at preventing transmissions will emerge. But vulnerable people should remain vigilant in protecting themselves and continue to take advantage of vaccine boosters and treatments. 

Referring to the current Covid-19 figures, Prof Fisher added: “It’s a timely review of the data to remind us to beware complacency. It is important to remember there are still important measures one can take to avoid infection and that vulnerable individuals should seek medical care early if they may be infected, to take advantage of treatments available in Singapore."