Singapore yesterday recorded 6,888 new Covid-19 infections, an increase from over 2,500 cases on Monday.
The city-state has been noticing a trend where infections typically rise on Tuesdays after events that happened over the weekend. Well, this past weekend happened to be the return of the Singapore Formula One (F1) Grand Prix which welcomed its highest crowd ever at 302,000 attendees.
Infectious diseases expert Leong Hoe Nam told The Straits Times that the rise in Covid-19 cases could be due to the partying and gatherings at the race festival.
“I guess everyone was simply mask down and bottoms up with infection cases rising subsequently,” he said.
In fact, clauses written on the F1 tickets seen by Coconuts state multiple warnings about organizers not being liable for any Covid-19 infections contracted during the three-day event.
“By entering the Circuit Park, the Ticket Holder assumes all risks related to the exposure to any Communicable Disease, including COVID-19,” it read.
“[T]here is an inherent risk of contracting or the transmission of Communicable Disease, including COVID-19, in any place where people are present including within the Circuit Park,” another clause read.
But another infectious diseases expert Paul Tambyah told The Straits Times that he disagrees as those infected over the weekend are unlikely to test positive due to the incubation period that is between three to four days.
Instead, the rise in cases could be due to the movement of people traveling in and out of Singapore. He cites Changi Airport Terminal 4’s recent reopening and travelers’ hunger to go abroad as reasons.
The Ministry of Health on Friday put out a statement addressing the high number of infections, mainly caused by the new Omicron variant BA.2.75, expected over the next few weeks.
So far, the new variant does not seem to be more dangerous, the ministry noted, adding that those who haven’t gone for their vaccine booster shots should do so soon.
The 7-day moving average of local infections is currently at 3,647 and over the past 28 days, 68,891 people have tested positive but 99.8 percent of them had mild or no symptoms, according to the ministry’s data.
In total, Singapore recorded 1,924,139 cases and 1,624 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
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