Stabilisation Phase extended till Nov 21; measures to be reviewed at 2-week mark

The Stabilisation Phase will be extended for another month till Nov 21, authorities announced on Wednesday (Oct 20). 

The current phase, which was implemented on Sep 27, was originally due to end on Oct 24. It was done to reduce the strain on hospitals in Singapore amid a rise in COVID-19 cases. 

Authorities said on Wednesday that the phase has been extended as more time is needed to stabilise the situation in Singapore. A review of the measures will be done at the two-week mark, around the end of the first week of November, and adjusted based on the COVID-19 community situation then.

Minister of Finance Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the Multi-Ministry Taskforce for COVID-19 (MTF), said that the measures will not have to remain frozen or static throughout the entire month.

Measures in certain settings, where risks are acceptable, will be reviewed and might be changed first, Mr Wong added.

As part of the Stabilisation Phase, social gathering sizes are capped at two. Work from home also became the default arrangement.

In an update to the measures on Oct 9, those who are not fully vaccinated were not able to dine in at hawker centres and coffee shops. They were also not allowed to enter shopping malls. 

MOH thanked all Singapore residents for their cooperation with safe management measures over the past month in its latest announcement, but added that daily case numbers are still rising.

Many vulnerable patients require intensive care and the number of unvaccinated seniors above 60 years old who are infected has increased over the past few days, with about 100 cases daily, MOH stated. 

Currently, almost 90 per cent of 1,650 isolation beds and 67 per cent of 250 intensive care beds in all the public hospitals have been filled. This is inclusive of non-COVID-19 patients.

“The workload on healthcare workers and hospitals is therefore very significant,” Minister of Health Ong Ye Kung added at the Multi-Ministry Taskforce press conference. 

While MOH is working to support and bolster hospitals, it will require time, he added.