It is possible to live with Covid-19: Singapore's plan to deal with the virus in future

Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, the term 'new normal' has been used a zillion times to describe how the world in the future will look like. Even though the futuristic descriptions are unlike what H.G.Wells predicted, they involve wearing face masks, maintaining social distancing, etc. Singapore, a country lauded for its success in controlling the virus, has laid out a vision in this regard, according to an op-ed published in The Straits Times.

It will be better to call Singapore's roadmap for the future 'back to normal' rather than 'new normal', as its Covid-19 task force thinks that people can live with the virus in the coming days. In the op-ed titled 'Living normally with Covid-19', Singapore's Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong and Health Minister Ong Ye Kung writes, "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."

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So, what does the roadmap say? It proposes to scrap lockdowns and mass contact tracing and allow for a return to quarantine-free travel and the resumption of large gatherings. Not just that. It even wants Singapore to stop the count. Not of votes, but daily Covid-19 cases.

The proposal is hugely different from the "zero transmission" model of many countries, which requires stringent, often punishing quarantine measures. The task force thinks that it will be impossible to maintain the current guidelines in the long term. As the op-ed said, "We can turn the pandemic into something much less threatening, like influenza, hand, foot and mouth disease, or chickenpox, and get on with our lives."

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To implement the idea, Singapore aims to increase its vaccination rate and fully vaccinate two-thirds of its population by August 9. "Vaccines are highly effective in reducing the risk of infection as well as transmission. Even if you are infected, vaccines will help prevent severe Covid-19 symptoms," the ministers write. "To sustain a high level of protection and to defend against new mutant strains resistant to current vaccines, booster shots may be needed in the future. We may have to sustain a comprehensive, multi-year vaccination programme."

As a result, instead of monitoring Covid-19 infection numbers every day, the country will focus on the outcomes: how many fall very sick, how many in the intensive care unit, how many need to be intubated for oxygen etc. Very much like how it monitors influenza.

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Testing and surveillance will still be needed. But the method of testing will change, "Domestically, testing will be less of a tool for ring-fencing and quarantining people exposed to infected persons. Instead, it would be to ensure that events, social activities and overseas trips can take place safely; as well as to reduce transmission risks, especially to those who are vulnerable to infections," they said.

Singapore has put forward a bold plan, and it can help the world get back to its pre-Covid life. A life without quarantines and strict Covid-19 rules. Only time will tell if Singapore effectively manages to execute it and whether other countries follow suit.