Singapore will cease sending people infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant to dedicated isolation facilities, and allow them to isolate at home or be treated in a community care facility instead, the Health Ministry said. “International evidence indicates that the Omicron variant is likely to be more transmissible but less severe than the Delta variant, and that vaccines, especially boosters, retain substantial protection against hospitalisations caused by Omicron,” the ministry said late on Sunday night. “Given the transmissibility of omicron and the open nature of our society, it is inevitable that omicron will spread in our community,” said ministry. As such, close contacts of those confirmed to have the variant will receive a seven-day health risk warning instead of being quarantined for for 10 days. Those currently being quarantined will be progressively discharged over the next few days – but must self-test daily before leaving their homes. Singapore warns of ‘potentially big’ wave of infections as it tightens rules As of Saturday, Singapore had detected 546 confirmed Omicron cases – 443 imported and 103 local, the ministry said. The city state should press on with its booster vaccination programme, the ministry said, as preliminary estimates from overseas studies had indicated that the risk of symptomatic infection from Omicron was reduced by about 75 per cent in those who had received an mRNA booster, versus a 35 per cent reduction in risk for those who were only double jabbed with an mRNA vaccine. In Thailand and Singapore, Omicron hits Asia’s nascent tourism revival Those who have recently arrived from overseas or been in contact with an infected person should reduce their social interactions in particular, it said. “In the coming days and weeks, we should expect more community cases, and rapid doubling of cases. This is again a process we need to go through, in order to live with Covid-19,” the ministry said. It also announced that foreigners seeking to work, study or reside in the country would need to be vaccinated. Exemptions will be granted for children below 12 and those medically ineligible for the shots. Singapore has taken a firm approach to those who refuse to be jabbed – they are already barred from most public spaces including restaurants, attractions and malls, and required to foot their own medical bills. A concession allowing the unvaccinated to return to places of employment by undergoing a Covid-19 test will also be scrapped from January 15, as part of measures “to bolster our protection against a large wave of cases locally and to keep our workplaces safe,” according to the statement. First Omicron death in Australia’s most populous state Australia reported more than 10,000 daily Covid-19 cases for the first time since the start of the pandemic amid the rapid spread of the omicron strain. New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, reported more than 6,000 new Covid-19 cases on Monday and confirmed its first death from the Omicron variant. The fatal case was identified as a man in his 80s who was infected at a care facility for the elderly in western Sydney. He had received two vaccine doses but had underlying health conditions. Everyone in the state is likely to get omicron at some point, the state’s health minister Brad Hazzard said Sunday, according to a local report. New measures came into force in New South Wales on Monday, including limits of one person per 2 square metres (22 sq ft) in bars and restaurants and required “check-ins” with QR codes in hospitality venues. Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the state government is considering lifting the requirement for health workers to isolate after being exposed to Covid-19 because of staff shortages. Victoria state reported 1,999 new cases on Monday with three deaths. State Covid-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said Victoria has moved to random genome testing for the omicron variant to better understand its spread. Japanese welcome PM’s anti-coronavirus measures Nearly two-thirds of Japanese voters support Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ’s government, with the public welcoming his anti-coronavirus measures, including temporary border closure to new foreign entrants, the Nikkei business daily said on Monday. Support for Kishida’s cabinet rose to 65 per cent, up by 4 percentage points from the previous survey a month ago, the newspaper said. In the latest poll taken from Friday to Sunday, 61 per cent of those surveyed evaluated positively Kishida’s anti-coronavirus steps, the highest figure since the Nikkei started asking for public views on the government’s coronavirus response in February 2020. Amid the global emergence of highly transmissible Omicron variant of coronavirus, Kishida in late November announced that Japan was barring entry to foreigners for about a month. Last week, he extended the measure through the New Year holidays. Why is Japan riding a calmer Covid-19 wave and can it last? Kishida took office in October , replacing Yoshihide Suga , whose one-year term as prime minister saw his support crumble as Covid-19 surged. Japan has detected several hundred new coronavirus cases per day in recent weeks, down sharply from more than 20,000 daily infections in the latest peak in August. Reporting by Bloomberg, Associated Press, Reuters