As Singapore Pauses Reopening, Experts Suggest 'Bolder' COVID-19 Strategy

FILE PHOTO: Office workers spend their lunch breaks at the central business district during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Singapore September 8, 2021. REUTERS/Edgar Su
FILE PHOTO: Office workers spend their lunch breaks at the central business district during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Singapore September 8, 2021. REUTERS/Edgar Su
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As Singapore Pauses Reopening, Experts Suggest 'Bolder' COVID-19 Strategy

FILE PHOTO: Office workers spend their lunch breaks at the central business district during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Singapore September 8, 2021. REUTERS/Edgar Su
FILE PHOTO: Office workers spend their lunch breaks at the central business district during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Singapore September 8, 2021. REUTERS/Edgar Su

Singapore is ramping up COVID-19 testing and has warned it would not rule out reimposing tighter curbs as infections rise - moves some experts see as too cautious for the vaccine frontrunner that is preparing to live with the virus here as an endemic disease.

Strict surveillance and quarantine have been key to its success in dealing with the pandemic, but Singapore has reported a sharp rise in cases to one-year highs here this week, reported Reuters.

Spooked by the fast pace of transmission, the government has said it would hold off on reopening measures here and urged people to reduce social activities, sparking a debate among experts on if Singapore could "be bolder" given it has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.

“There will necessarily have to be some trial and error but I personally think Singapore’s vaccination rate now allows us to be bolder with moving forward,” said Ooi Eng Eong, an infectious diseases expert at the Duke-NUS Medical School.

Some experts even question the need for rigorous testing in a country where 81% of the 5.7 million population are fully vaccinated and many of the new positive cases are asymptomatic.

With so many people vaccinated, “it’s not obvious that we need to know the infection status of asymptomatic contacts”, said Alex Cook, an infectious disease modelling expert at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Singapore has mandated routine testing for workers in additional “high risk” settings, started distributing antigen rapid test kits to households and urged everyone to self test even if they are fully vaccinated.

The country recorded 347 new local cases on Wednesday, nearly triple the infections from two weeks ago. It has reported 56 deaths so far and only six people are in intensive care.



Türkiye Detains 282 Suspects in Large-scale Operation Against PKK

Members of the Turkish Youth Union (TGB) gather to protest talks, supported by the government, with the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, to seek an end to a 40-year conflict between the PKK and Turkish state in Istanbul, Türkiye, February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Members of the Turkish Youth Union (TGB) gather to protest talks, supported by the government, with the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, to seek an end to a 40-year conflict between the PKK and Turkish state in Istanbul, Türkiye, February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
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Türkiye Detains 282 Suspects in Large-scale Operation Against PKK

Members of the Turkish Youth Union (TGB) gather to protest talks, supported by the government, with the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, to seek an end to a 40-year conflict between the PKK and Turkish state in Istanbul, Türkiye, February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Members of the Turkish Youth Union (TGB) gather to protest talks, supported by the government, with the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, to seek an end to a 40-year conflict between the PKK and Turkish state in Istanbul, Türkiye, February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Turkish police have detained 282 suspects in the past five days in a large-scale operation targeting the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Tuesday.
The suspects were detained across 51 provinces, the minister said on the X social media platform.
The detentions came despite renewed efforts between Ankara and the PKK to resolve a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. These efforts are expected to include a call by the PKK’s imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, for his group to lay down arms.
According to The Associated Press, Yerlikaya said those detained are suspected of providing financial support to the PKK, recruiting members, engaging in propaganda and participating in violent street protests.
Police seized two AK-47 assault rifles and other weapons during the raids, the minister said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has widened a crackdown on the opposition in recent months, arresting journalists and politicians among others.
Several elected Kurdish mayors have been ousted from office and replaced with state appointed officials for alleged links to the PKK. The latest was on Saturday, when the mayor of Van municipality in eastern Türkiye was removed from his post and replaced with the state-appointed governor.