It appears that we will be living with COVID-19 for some time. That it will be endemic among the population.
This much was said by Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during his speech on the COVID-19 situation in Singapore. The island nation has seen an uptick in locally transmitted cases after seeing it drop to virtually zero over the past few months.
While the country will not be able to prevent infections cropping up, Lee said that vaccinations and testing will keep the country going.
“In the new normal, COVID-19 will not dominate our lives. Our people will be mostly vaccinated and possibly taking booster shots every year. We will get tested often but it will be fast and easy. We will go to work or school, meet friends and family, participate in religious services, and enjoy entertainment and sports events,” he said.
Lee also said that Singapore’s position is now much better with testing and contact tracing capabilities, as well as a vaccinated population. “With stronger defences in place, we have not had to impose a full circuit breaker,” he said.
On the other hand, the situation in Malaysia is much worse. The daily case count has skyrocketed to a high of over 9,000 in late May, from an average of around 3,000 earlier in the month. Though the elevated case count is partly due to mass testing, the government has announced a full lockdown in response.
“If drastic action is not taken immediately, it is of concern that the health care system in our country will collapse and we will face a greater catastrophe,” Malaysian Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said in a televised address.
What happened?
Esta historia es de la edición Issue 21, 2021 de SME Magazine Singapore.
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