Despite Delta Variant Spread... Singapore Announces Plan to Return to Normalcy Without Counting Confirmed Cases

Photo by Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister's Facebook

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] Singapore, once regarded as a model country for COVID-19 prevention, recently attracted attention by announcing a 'New Normal' roadmap aimed at managing COVID-19 and returning to everyday life.

On May 31, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong mentioned the term 'New Normal' in a national address. This expression reflected the intention to treat COVID-19 as a periodic epidemic, managing it through thorough testing and vaccination, and to return to normal life.

As the world strengthens prevention measures again due to the spread of the India-origin Delta variant, Singaporean authorities, with increasing vaccination rates, announced that instead of imposing lockdowns, they would stop tracking infections and daily case counts. They plan to treat COVID-19 like a type of 'flu,' managing only severe cases and deaths.

The government task force responsible for Singapore's COVID-19 response unveiled a detailed 'New Normal' plan. The statement included, "Those infected after vaccination do not necessarily need to go to the hospital and can recover at home. Since they are vaccinated, most symptoms will not be severe," and "During outbreaks, large-scale contact tracing or quarantines may not be conducted. Periodic testing is possible through various tests and equipment."

Additionally, Singapore stated, "Instead of counting confirmed cases daily, we will focus on observing trends. We will primarily monitor the condition of severe patients and their vaccination status." It was also added that statistics related to vaccinated individuals will exclude those vaccinated with the Chinese Sinovac vaccine, as it is not officially administered by the government and its effectiveness against the Delta variant has not been sufficiently verified.

Singapore appears to have introduced this policy based on thorough prevention measures and a high vaccination rate. Singapore's COVID-19 vaccination rate is the highest among Asian countries for both first and second doses, and the recent daily average number of confirmed cases is around 10.

However, Singapore's recent announcement does not immediately mean easing prevention rules and returning to normal life. The only change in the new prevention rules effective from the 12th is an increase in the allowed number of people dining together from 2 to 5, while social distancing and mandatory mask-wearing remain in place. This is a very strict measure compared to the current trend of confirmed cases in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Singapore also stated that if the second-dose vaccination rate reaches 50% by the end of this month, they are considering easing restrictions further, such as increasing the allowed number of diners to 8.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.