Covid-19: PM Lee to address Singapore on Thursday, March 24

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SINGAPORE - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will provide an update on the Covid-19 situation in Singapore in a televised address on Thursday at 11am, he said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (March 23).

“Our Covid-19 situation has been improving, with the Omicron wave subsiding. Singaporeans are gradually learning to live with the virus.

“I will speak on our situation and next steps, in a live broadcast at 11am tomorrow,”  he said.

The speech - his ninth since the pandemic started in 2020 - will be aired live on The Straits Times' website, Facebook page and YouTube channel. It will also be available on Mr Lee's Facebook page and broadcast on Mediacorp channels.

Covid-19 case numbers have hovered around the 10,000 mark since the middle of this month. About 95 per cent of the eligible population in Singapore have completed the full vaccination regimen, and 71 per cent of the total population have received a booster shot.

Singapore's vaccination rate - among the highest in the world - has helped to slow the spread of the disease, including the Omicron variant, experts have said.

The first case of the variant in Singapore was detected last December, with the number of infections reaching a record high of 26,032 on Feb 22.

The surge caused a delay in the easing of some Covid-19 measures which was planned to take effect from Feb 25. On March 15, some of the rules were streamlined as the infection numbers showed a downward trend. The changes include making safe distancing no longer mandatory at places where people wear masks, and allowing households to host five visitors at any one time, instead of five visitors a day.

On March 18, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that the peak of the contagious Omicron variant of the disease was over. But hospitals remain strapped largely due to non-Covid-19-related patients with chronic diseases, with the patient load worsening over the last two years as the healthcare system was focused on fighting Covid-19, he added.

Mr Lee said in his last televised speech in October last year that Singapore would be shifting its approach from a "zero Covid" strategy to one that lives with the coronavirus. With vaccinations, the virus has become a mild, treatable disease for most, he added, urging people to go about their daily activities, taking necessary precautions and complying with safe management measures.

He also asked Singapore residents to change their mindsets about the disease, and called on people here to test themselves when necessary and self-isolate if they test positive.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.