Singapore Tightens the Covid Net By Brian Simpson
Does mass vaccination result in things opening up and business as usual, even with 100 percent vaccination, in the ideal? Well, look at Singapore, which is the sort of authoritarian illiberal society that Australia is moving towards, not to put Singapore down, it certainly is a well-ordered, safe and clean place. But, even given one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, Singapore has moved to work-from-home as the new normal, masks and social distancing. So, how will Australia ultimately be any different?
"Singapore made work-from-home the default and tightened rules to allow a maximum of two people to meet in restaurants or other social settings, as it seeks to rein in mostly mild cases that could otherwise quadruple in two weeks and overburden hospitals.
Primary school students will have to shift to learning from home, while booster shots get extended beyond seniors to a younger age group, the government said on Friday.
The moves, which take effect from September 27 for about a month, appear to shift away from the country’s stated transition toward living with the virus. About 80 per cent of the Singapore’s population is fully vaccinated.
With health officials expecting daily cases to jump to around 6000 from about 1500 currently, the government wants to curb that increase and avoid a hard lockdown. This resolve may soon get severely tested even though four in five people are already vaccinated in Singapore.
“This was a very difficult decision for us as we know that this would affect many businesses and people,” said Trade Minister Gan Kim Yong, one of co-chairs of virus taskforce.
“While doing so may not reduce the number of daily new infections immediately, it will allow us to slow down the speed of increase and avoid overtaxing our healthcare workers.”
Singapore, until now, has allowed up to five fully vaccinated patrons to dine together at restaurants and up to two at food centres and coffee shops regardless of vaccination status. Workplace restrictions were initially getting loosened with up to half of employees allowed to return to offices.
Even though the total number of patients in intensive care remains low at 23, the jump in mild infections has begun to stir anxiety in Singapore. Residents are airing grievances over not being able to reach the health ministry quickly to discuss their concerns and fretted over the long lag between testing positive for COVID-19 and getting sent to a recovery facility.
Singapore will spend S$650 million ($661 million) to provide additional support measures and cushion the impact of its renewed virus-related restrictions on workers and businesses.
The package will be funded from higher-than-expected revenues and there won’t be a further draw from its past reserves, the government said. Authorities will boost jobs support and waive rentals for some business owners, and give financial assistance to taxi and private hire car drivers as part of the plan, it said.
The latest package includes an enhanced jobs support plan for sectors which are significantly affected, including restaurants and food stalls, retail, and cinemas. The government will provide a two-week rental waiver for tenants on state-owned commercial properties, and an equivalent cash payout to those on private ones.
The city state had pledged about S$100 billion ($111 billion) to help cushion the blow from the virus restrictions, and provided similar packages when restrictions were imposed.”
So, at the end of the hard day’s night, what is it all for?
Comments