OCTA: 2-week 'hard lockdown' to stop 'catastrophic surge'

A two-week "hard and early circuit-breaker" lockdown will prevent a "catastrophic" surge by the Delta variant of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) that could result in "thousands dying", according to the independent OCTA Research group on Wednesday.

Professor Ranjit Rye, OCTA founder, said the national government should learn from the surge that happened in March and April when the Alpha and Beta variants almost crippled the healthcare capacity and resulted in a longer lockdown due to the government's delayed response.