Overcoming the Fear of COVID-19
PM Lee spoke to the nation and gave us an update of how Singapore will slowly but surely move from pandemic to endemic.
It won’t be an easy journey but one that needs to be taken as one united people.
Here are PM’s key messages. I’ve also attached a chart on the simpler protocols to guide us should we catch COVID:
Respect COVID but not fear it
Our goal remains the same – To live with COVID-19 while minimising casualties.
Singapore has constantly adapted our strategy to deal with the ever-evolving Covid-19 virus.
What has not changed is our priority to save lives.
Our earlier "COVID Zero" approach was appropriate at the time as it was the only measure available to us.
With high vaccination, we are now ready to start living with the virus.
But to do so, we must change our mindset and understand that COVID-19 is a treatable disease that most of us now can recover by ourselves.
There are anxieties about recovering at home, and concerns with the elderly, the children and the most vulnerable among us.
We will continue to protect the most vulnerable amongst us, but we must not be paralysed by fear and should go about our daily activities as normally as possible, with the necessary precautions and safe management measures.
We will continue to build our COVID resilience and get through the situation safely with the following measures:
Achieving a high vaccination rate
We already have one of the highest vaccination rates (almost 85%) in the world. We are confident that most of us will be alright even if we catch the virus.
Even with the recent surge in number of cases, 2% or less end up with serious illnesses and only 0.2% needed ICU care.
Moving forward, we will press on with booster shots and vaccinations, and study the feasibility of vaccinating children below 12.
With vaccination, for most of us, COVID-19 is no longer a dangerous disease.
Stabilising our healthcare system
We implement the stabilisation phase to give our frontline workers and system time to catch up and prepare for the next stage.
We want to ensure that our healthcare system is not overwhelmed and save our healthcare resources to look after the serious cases and the most vulnerable among us.
With cases expected to grow exponentially, we need to tap on our brakes where necessary and take a pause to slow down the rate of infection.
We can expect daily numbers to stay high for a while, but the majority of those infected will be able to recover safely at home with support from the Home Recovery Programme.
Opening our economy in phases
Businesses and jobs are disrupted each time we tighten our measures.
Singapore cannot stay locked down and closed off indefinitely.
There are real needs for overseas travel , especially for our residents who need to travel for work, for our students who have overseas attachment, internship and studies, and for Singaporeans who want to come home.
We will continue to open our borders safely.
The Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTLs) with Germany and Brunei have shown that it is possible for overseas travel to resume safely and we will introduce more VTLs with countries with a similar or lower risk profile. Preserving our hub status and keeping us connected to global supply chains is key to our country's survival.
The Road Ahead
The journey towards COVID resilience will not be an easy one but we will do it the Singapore way – not leaving anyone behind. We have been making steady progress and are in a much better position now than a year ago, though we must continue to stay prepared for any surprises that COVID-19 can throw at us and if necessary, tap on the brakes again, especially if we see our healthcare capacity under strain.
But we expect any future surges to be less difficult to manage as we get stronger and more resilient with each passing day. Also, to combat COVID-19, we need everyone's support as each of us is the first line of defence. With everyone's cooperation, we will put the worst behind us and hopefully, it won’t be too long before living with COVID-19 is our new normal.
