From the very beginning, Singapore’s overriding goal has been to protect lives, minimize avoidable deaths, and never leave Singapore in a dire situation where no one can get treatment.
Writing | Yan Xiaoliu
Source | “Medical Community” Official Account
From March 29, Singapore will enter the final phase of “Coexistence with Covid-19”. The goal is to become a “resilient country”.
At that time, the epidemic prevention measures will be further relaxed. Gatherings will increase from the current five to 10. 75% of home workers will return to the workplace. Large-scale events such as concerts will resume, and the capacity of venues with a thousand people can reach 75%. It is not mandatory to wear masks outdoors.
In addition, immigration requirements will be greatly simplified. From April 1, air and sea passengers who have completed vaccinations only need to complete the test within 48 hours before departure, and no further testing and isolation are required after entry.
In June 2021, the Singaporean government stated for the first time that it would “coexist with the virus”. Nine months later, the country is gradually returning to pre-pandemic life. “Singapore nationals traveling abroad are almost the same as before the epidemic.” “Sin Chew Daily” and other media reported.
“After taking this major step, we will wait for a while until the situation stabilizes. If all goes well, it will be further relaxed.” Entering a New Stage” National Television Speech.
Image courtesy of Prime Minister’s Office Singapore
He said that Singapore’s confrontation with the new crown epidemic has entered an important turning point. “Next, we will decisively move towards coexistence with the coronavirus.”
Open air
Singapore, with a total population of nearly 5.69 million, is one of the first countries to move from being closed to containment to “coexisting with the new crown.”
The “Paper News” report pointed out that the prerequisites for Singapore to change its thinking on epidemic prevention include three aspects. For example, the government can adjust control measures at any time according to the severity of the epidemic.
Second, Singapore has the world’s leading vaccination rate. According to data from the Singapore health department, as of March 23, 93% of the country’s total population had received at least one dose, 92% of the total population had completed two doses, and the booster vaccination rate had reached 71%.
High vaccination rates, and “many people have been sick and have recovered, so our herd immunity is higher,” Lee Hsien Loong said.
Once again, as the epidemic changes, Singapore has flexibly adjusted its testing methods and constantly reshaped its medical procedures.
In May 2021, the highly transmissible and pathogenic variant Delta invaded Singapore, causing a surge in infections and straining nucleic acid detection capabilities. Due to the large increase in the number of infected patients, even though the proportion of critically ill patients is small, the absolute number is expanding. The medical staff were out of work, and the utilization rate of the intensive care system once reached 90%.
The next month, Singapore launched rapid test kits, which people can buy and test at home. The National University of Singapore, etc. also distributed kits to school teachers and students, and provided self-test and reporting cycles for different situations such as living on campus and commuting.
Since a large number of asymptomatic and mildly ill people were screened out by self-tests, all of them could not be hospitalized or isolated in a centralized manner. Singapore has launched a home isolation rehabilitation program.
By the summer of that year, people under the age of 59 who were vaccinated but had no symptoms or had mild symptoms were no longer going directly to the hospital. Initially, they were admitted to community care facilities for isolation before transitioning to home isolation for recovery. In July, Health Minister Wang Yikang said that as many as 40% of those infected were expected to be able to isolate at home. “As more people are vaccinated, this rate could increase to over 50% in the coming weeks.”
“In the beginning, some people didn’t understand home isolation.” Miss Hu, who has lived in Singapore for a long time, told the “medical community” that the situation changed after Omicron was widely spread.
Ms. Hu introduced that many of her friends and colleagues around her have been infected with Omicron, and they were all mild because of 3 doses of the vaccine. I haven’t been infected yet, or I may have been infected but don’t know it.
Xu Zhenyi, managing director of “Singapore Eye”, a media person who has long been concerned about Singapore’s epidemic prevention work, told The Paper that when Omi Kron first appeared, the Singapore government first required all patients to be quarantined in a centralized manner. After three or four weeks, the government observed that Omicron was less virulent but much more transmissible, with few severe deaths, and resumed home isolation. “Up to now, it is equivalent to flu-like treatment.”
Consistent preservation of medical strength
“One step forward, one step back three steps.” Singapore’s current affairs review website “Red Ant” once commented on the country’s anti-epidemic measures.
The editorial team of the website also pointed out that Singapore has better preserved its medical system due to continuous relaxation and tightening.
“From the very beginning, Singapore’s overriding goal has been to protect lives, minimise avoidable deaths, and resolutely prevent Singapore from falling into a dire situation where no one can be treated.” Lee Hsien Loong at In the speech on the 24th, it was mentioned that when deciding how quickly and how much to relax the restrictions, the government knew that the pressure on medical staff and the medical system could not be reached to the limit, which would lead to medical care.Overburdened staff are putting at risk both Covid-19 and non-COVID-19 patients in dire need of treatment.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, Lee Hsien Loong has made at least nine public speeches on the epidemic situation. The “medical system’s ability to respond” was mentioned several times.
In the first year of the outbreak, Singapore adopted a strict “zero out” measure. From April 7 to June 1, 2020, the country implemented a blockade similar to the city closure, and actively tested, traced, and quarantined. Lee Hsien Loong explained that it was “because they didn’t know much about the new coronavirus” and “seeing that the situation in some countries is dire, medical staff are forced to decide who to save and who not to save.”
The change in thinking about epidemic prevention will take place in the late spring and early summer of 2021. On May 31, Lee Hsien Loong released a speech on “How to Better Coexist with the New Crown”, mentioning how to achieve a balance that keeps openness without large-scale outbreaks in the community. Both medical response and vaccination were mentioned in this presentation.
By August, the Singapore government formally proposed a 4-phase roadmap for “living with the virus.” At that time, Singapore’s Minister of Health Wang Yikang and several experts said in an interview that one of the criteria for judging whether to enter the next stage is whether the epidemic can be continuously controlled, and the most important criterion is the medical pressure. Even if confirmed cases grow again, the number of cases requiring oxygen assistance or intensive care could remain flat.
“Not long after the Delta epidemic subsided, we encountered another problem. This time it was the more contagious Omicron. We were on the alert, and the number of confirmed cases around the world continued to reach new highs. The number of cases in Singapore has also surged, with more than 25,000 new cases in a single day at its peak. However, due to the high vaccination rate in our country and the sound medical system, we are still confident that we can cope with the epidemic.” Lee Hsien Loong on the 24th The statement said that the burden on the medical system is still heavy today, but the pressure of seeing a doctor has slowed down. Singapore has ensured that hospitals have enough intensive care beds and oxygen supplies to treat every patient in need, buying time to improve the health system’s ability to respond.
Since the outbreak, Singapore has consistently had one of the lowest COVID-19 mortality rates in the world.
As of 12:00 on March 24, 2022, the cumulative number of confirmed new crown cases in Singapore has exceeded 1 million, and the mortality rate of unvaccinated people is 0.67%. In the past 28 days, there have been more than 387,000 new infections in Singapore, the intensive care rate is 0.04%, and the mortality rate is 0.05%.
In November 2021, Professor Zhang Yiying, Dean of the Sau Ruifu School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, wrote that even in the 22 months of the new crown epidemic, Singapore has not been like other countries. Medical systems are overwhelmed and death rates skyrocket. Compared with 2016-2018, when there was no outbreak, the overall mortality rate in Singapore in 2021 is lower.
Be prepared, there are twists and turns in the future
Singapore’s announcement comes as a growing number of countries are loosening restrictions.
Japan lifts hours restrictions on restaurants, shops in Tokyo and 17 other prefectures. South Korea abolished the curfew restrictions on restaurants after 23:00 in the evening, and, like New Zealand, abolished regulations such as access to public places with vaccine passes. Malaysia has announced an end to entry quarantine requirements for those who have been vaccinated from April 1 in a bid to revive the tourism industry. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, where the number of infections is increasing by 10,000, also plans to gradually relax in April, including lifting the ban on some international flights.
Different from some countries that have fully opened up, Singapore still retains some basic requirements for epidemic prevention. For example, people must keep a distance of 1 meter as long as they are not wearing masks, whether indoors or outdoors. A maximum of 10 fully vaccinated people are allowed to share a table in all restaurants, but vaccination checks must be conducted at the entrance. If you feel unwell, you need to self-test, and those who test positive need to be isolated at home.
Lee Hsien Loong appealed to the public to be mentally prepared for the possibility of more setbacks in the future. “It is possible that more contagious and more dangerous mutant strains will emerge, like the delta strain. If this happens, we may need to step back and tighten the measures again. We cannot rule it out. sex, even if we hope it doesn’t happen.”
“We’ve come a long way on this long road against the virus. We haven’t reached the finish line yet, but we’re getting closer. The key to staying calm The factor is the trust of the Chinese people in the government and health authorities, and mutual trust in each other. We have always trusted and supported each other. This spirit of solidarity and solidarity will still be crucial as we face new challenges in the future. .”
Source: Medicine
Editor in charge: Zheng Huaju
Proofreading: Zang Hengjia
Plate making: Xue Jiao