This was the post on ‘Living with Covid’. Take a look if you are interested.
👉 Living With Covid
Two months ago, Singapore took the bold step to ‘Live with Covid’. The decision was met with many criticisms. Some people think that the government is losing the battle with the Corona virus, and hence giving in to the fight. From a country that was lauded for her dealing with the virus, Singapore was suddenly the country that failed miserably in her fight against Covid.
However, the decision to ‘Live with Covid’ was not made in a time of despair nor without a plan. The plan was hatched when it was found that people who were vaccinated suffered only mild or no symptoms when they were infected with the Corona virus. That started off the campaign to get people vaccinated. Only when more than 80 percent of the population had been vaccinated did they reveal that it is time to return to some normality in life.
Looking at the situation all over the world now, the Corona virus is going to be with us for a while yet. Lock-downs work but we cannot afford to be on lock-downs and living with restrictions indefinitely. Life has to go on. People need to eat, to earn a livelihood. People are weary of all the restrictions. Since vaccinations offer some protection against the virus, it makes sense that once people are vaccinated, they should be allowed more freedom to move about.
Those who were vaccinated six months ago were encouraged to go for their booster shots, to add another layer to their protection, since it was found that the vaccination slowly loses its effectiveness after six months.
Hence, our Covid-19 task force came up with the plan to ‘Live With Covid’. However, they made it very clear that the easing into ‘Living With Covid’ would be gradual. It doesn’t mean that we throw caution to the winds and continue with life like before the Covid days. In short, masks are still mandatory, and social distancing is still everyone’s responsibility. The advice is still not to go out unless necessary.
The first phase of the plan was called the Stabilization Phase. The focus was on vaccination. Get everyone vaccinated. Those who were vaccinated were allowed, amongst other things to dine in restaurants, maximum two to a table. They were allowed to participate in activities and social events. The list of what was allowed and what was not is too long to go into, and not important here.
In case you are wondering why are there still so many restrictions when it is ‘Living With Covid’, well the main cause for concern is once we opened up, there was bound to be a surge of infections. The hospitals and health care system would not be able to cope. If that happened, all other non Covid treatments would have to be delayed. We don’t want that to happen. We don’t want to tax the health care system.
Thus, part of the Stabilization Phase was to let those who were infected and had only mild symptoms, or are asymptomatic to self-isolate at home, instead of taking up spaces in the hospitals. With this plan in place, although there was an increased in numbers of infections, and quite significantly too, the health system was spared.
Unfortunately, just as the plan was put into action, the Delta+ variant threw a spanner into the works. Instead of the numbers of infections decreasing, or remaining stable, we saw a marked increase in numbers instead. The Delta+ variant is even more transmissible. Even those who were vaccinated were not spared. However, most suffered only minor symptoms, and there were quite a number who were asymptomatic.
Although things seem abysmal, the number of infections were within expectations. Taking the Delta+ variant into account, the task force did a projection of the probability of number of cases in the coming days, and what would be the worse case scenario. And if the worse case scenario happened, they would have to rethink their plans. Luckily, till today, everything has been within expectation.
So, on to Phase Two of ‘Living With Covid’ – the Transition Phase. We are now allowed to dine in restaurants – up to five persons per table. Each household is allowed up to five visitors per day – up from two. The capacity for social events and activities has also been increased. But, only if the participants are vaccinated. Otherwise, they have to take an Antigen Rapid Test first before participating.
The rationale given for the easing of restrictions now, is that we are coming to the year end festivities. If they eased up at the end of the year, there would likely be a ‘blast’ of celebrations, and the number of infections would likely soar again. By easing restrictions gradually, they can better monitor the situation. And depending how the situation turns out, they can decide whether to ease more of the restrictions or go back to the Stabilization phase. It all sounds reasonable, and practical.
Many countries are now opening up and recent figures show that the numbers of infections are rising all over the world again. There is a fear that with the winter season, and the year end festivities round the corner, things are going to get worse. Countries like Austria and the Netherlands are bringing back restrictions and lock-downs. And what do people do? They go out and protest, unmasked! Why do people never learn?
At the initial stage of the pandemic, people were complacent. They dismissed the pandemic as ‘a little flu’. Some people still think so.
I can’t help but think that if the world had reacted to virus like Wuhan in China did, we could have seen the end of pandemic by now. Perhaps if the Corona virus were some flesh eating virus, like in the movies, people would have taken it more seriously. Unfortunately, it is just a ‘little flu’ that has taken millions of life, and no end is in sight.
Anyway, I digress. So, as of yesterday, Singapore is in the Transition Phase of ‘Living With Covid’. The Covid-19 Task Force will monitor the situation. Hopefully, the plan will work and we can gradually ease back to some sort of normalcy in life.
Get vaccinated because vaccination will give you some protection. If you were still unfortunate enough to catch the virus, at least you would only have very mild symptoms if you are basically healthy with a healthy immune system. It would “turn something like a deadly virus into something like a seasonal flu that we're all familiar with” as one vaccinated Covid survivor put it. And wear a mask when you are out.
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