SINGAPORE — Authorities in Singapore have tightened Covid measures as infections in the country rise to fresh record highs — but two health experts told CNBC they are not terribly concerned.

After stricter guidelines were announced Friday, officials from the Health Ministry said that there was a need for slowing down the transmission of infections to protect vulnerable people such as the elderly.

In the coming weeks, the group size for social gatherings will drop to 2 people instead of 5 people. Working from home will become the default.

CNBC still heard from medical professionals that this latest outbreak of the virus may be beneficial, as Singapore is a highly-vaccinated country.

Teo YikYing, the dean of Saw Swee Hock Schools of Public Health, at the National University of Singapore, said that many of those who received Covid-19 were able to avoid severe illnesses and would be protected against any future infections by antibodies.

A total of 82% have received at least two Covid vaccinations. Health authorities on Sunday said 98% of infected individuals had no or mild symptoms over the last 28 days.

Case numbers may remain high for a few months, but the “vast majority” will be well protected by the vaccines and won’t fall seriously ill, Teo said.

In an email, he stated that infection would not cause any long-term or short-term health problems for these individuals, but could trigger a natural immune reaction which may reduce the likelihood of catching another infection.

The two main vaccines used in Singapore are developed by Pfizer–BioNTech or Moderna, and both use the messenger RNA technology.

mRNA vaccines instruct the body to produce a so-called spike protein which is found on the surface of the virus that causes Covid-19. It is harmless, but triggers the immune system to develop antibodies so that the body will be able to fight off infection better if exposed to the real virus.

Ooi explained that the immune system can recognize more of the virus if there is a natural one.

He said Singapore could reap the benefits of natural infection that some parts of Europe and North America are experiencing, but in the reverse order.

“Instead of infection followed by vaccination, we’re going to go vaccination followed by infection, which I think is even better because [infections] will mostly be mild,” he said.

“Those [countries] that had high rates of disease last year paid the price” of higher death rates, he told CNBC.

There were also concerns about mu, a new variant of interest, but it couldn’t take off because delta was too strong, he said.

Ooi stated that despite this, it is wise to remain prepared for something better than delta to emerge or the possibility that a new strain could be developed that could overcome the immune system.