Singapore’s road map to “live with Covid-19,” which includes no longer releasing daily case numbers, is a “sensible approach” for Australia, a leading epidemiologist has said.
But not yet.
Last week, a bevy of senior ministers from the city-state announced that in the future Covid would be treated like other endemic diseases such as flu.
Goals of zero transmissions, quarantine for travellers and isolation of close contacts would be out, replaced by breathalyser tests done before going to work or the shops.
Vaccinations would prevent most people with Covid becoming ill and they would be able to recuperate at home.
“The bad news is that Covid-19 may never go away. The good news is that it is possible to live normally with it in our midst,” wrote Singapore’s trade Minister Gan Kim Yong, finance Minister Lawrence Wong and health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in an editorial in the Straits Times last week.
“Every year, many people catch the flu. The overwhelming majority recover without needing to be hospitalised, and with little or no medication. But a minority, especially the elderly and those with comorbidities, can get very ill, and some succumb.
“We can’t eradicate it, but we can turn the pandemic into something much less threatening, like influenza or chickenpox, and get on with our lives,” the trio said.
Singapore’s new road map won’t kick in straight away but when the country of 5.7 million people reached a high vaccination rate.
Link - https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/...a/news-story/d4e65a272c0b1150d7e69e07301fc77e
But not yet.
Last week, a bevy of senior ministers from the city-state announced that in the future Covid would be treated like other endemic diseases such as flu.
Goals of zero transmissions, quarantine for travellers and isolation of close contacts would be out, replaced by breathalyser tests done before going to work or the shops.
Vaccinations would prevent most people with Covid becoming ill and they would be able to recuperate at home.
“The bad news is that Covid-19 may never go away. The good news is that it is possible to live normally with it in our midst,” wrote Singapore’s trade Minister Gan Kim Yong, finance Minister Lawrence Wong and health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in an editorial in the Straits Times last week.
“Every year, many people catch the flu. The overwhelming majority recover without needing to be hospitalised, and with little or no medication. But a minority, especially the elderly and those with comorbidities, can get very ill, and some succumb.
“We can’t eradicate it, but we can turn the pandemic into something much less threatening, like influenza or chickenpox, and get on with our lives,” the trio said.
Singapore’s new road map won’t kick in straight away but when the country of 5.7 million people reached a high vaccination rate.
Link - https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/...a/news-story/d4e65a272c0b1150d7e69e07301fc77e
