New South Wales and Victoria have been given a grim warning ahead of next month's long-awaited Covid reopening, with a leading infectious disease expert in Singapore urging Australia to prepare 'more hospital beds'.
The southeast Asian financial hub surpassed an 80 per cent vaccination rate in August prompting the country to open its doors allowing citizens back into pubs, restaurants, retails stores and gyms.
But just one month later the daily infection rate has soared to new record highs leaving policymakers with no choice but to reintroduce some capacity restrictions on venues as health authorities scramble to ease the burden on 'overwhelmed' hospitals.
In mid August, the city-state's seven-day rolling average was below 100 but now daily case numbers have hovered just below 2,000 this week, with an all-time high of 1939 infections on Monday.
But with the over 82 per cent of the nation now double-dosed the seven day moving average of deaths remains at just three - however there are fears that number could increase sharply.
Covid cases in Singapore (pictured) have soared after the financial hub reopened last month
Over 80 per cent of Singapore are vaccinated against Covid yet infection rates are still soaring. Pictured: A Covid testing clinic in Singapore
Professor Dale Fisher, an Australian who chairs the WHO's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network in Singapore said the same thing is likely to happen Down Under when NSW and Victoria start to ease restrictions next month.
'We went from 100 to a 1000 in a very short space of time and that messaging wasn't I guess uniformly received. Suddenly the hospitals were overwhelmed with people that didn't need to be there for health reasons,' the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine-based physician told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Teo Yik-Ying of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health explained the number of severely ill on the island remains low as the 'vast majority' are protected by the vaccines, however due to the speed of the unprecedented surge in cases the hospital system now needs 'breathing space'.
'Hospital beds are filling up because of the country's very cautious approach, and not because that many people need acute medical care,' Teo told CNBC.
Professor Dale Fisher, an Australian who chairs the WHO's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network in Singapore said cases are likely to shoot up in Australia after the reopen as they have done in Singapore (pictured)
The daily infection rate graph shows the surge in cases that Singapore have experienced since the August reopen
Professor Dale Fisher (pictured) getting vaccinated against Covid-19 has warned Australia to learn the lessons of Singapore
Government data shows 194 patients currently require oxygen in hospital with 30 others in intensive care.
Officials expect case numbers to soar beyond 3,000 in weeks to come and are taking steps to secure a further 300 ICU beds.
'If there is a lesson for NSW and Victoria, [it is] could this be a problem for you as numbers continue to increase as you
