0:00 – THE BIG STORY
0:52 – ONG YE KUNG ON OMICRON
Is Singapore ready for another Covid-19 wave?
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said Singapore cannot afford to repeat what it did during the Omicron wave, when many people were taken to public hospitals because the facilities in which they were being cared for could not manage them properly. READ MORE: https://str.sg/w6oW
Speaking at the Health Ministry’s (MOH) annual work plan seminar on Thursday (June 2), he cited South Africa, which has gone through five Covid-19 waves, as an example.
Mr Ong says: “If we imagine BA4 or BA5 will come to Asia, or Singapore, in a matter of months, maybe July or August. But looking at South Africa’s experience, we can be quietly optimistic because our resilience is high and our vaccination coverage is very high.”
Professor Dale Fisher, an infectious diseases expert, weighs in on how big of a threat the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants pose to Singapore.
6:17 – PUMP PRICES HIT NEW HIGH OF $4
Separately, fuel pump prices have climbed to new highs again to breach $4 for the first time on the back of an imminent ban on Russian oil and increased demand as world economies return to full swing. READ MORE: https://str.sg/w6wy
8:38 – 100 DAYS OF WAR IN UKRAINE
Also on the show, Mr Mathias Heng, a Singapore-born Australian international photojournalist who spent two months in Ukraine, shares his experience taking photos of the ongoing crisis in the country as it crosses 100 days of war.
#thebigstory #covid19 #omicron
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