• Singaporeans have to adjust their mindsets on Covid-19, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said
• With vaccination, it is a manageable disease for the vast majority, except for seniors, and should not be feared
• Health protocols will be streamlined with home recovery as the main mode of healthcare for infected patients
• People need to take on more personal responsibility in monitoring their own health when living with Covid-19 as an endemic disease

SINGAPORE — Singaporeans have to adjust their mindsets on Covid-19, so that they are “not paralysed by fear” and are able to live with it as an endemic disease, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Saturday (Oct 9). 

“We should respect Covid-19, but we must not be paralysed by fear. Let us go about our daily activities as normally as possible, taking necessary precautions and complying with safe management measures. With vaccinations, Covid-19 has become a treatable, mild disease for most of us,” Mr Lee said in a live address to the nation. 

This is especially the case for those who are young and fully vaccinated, or even for those who are not so young but fully vaccinated, he said.

“The threat of Covid-19 is now mainly to seniors — 60 and above if you are not vaccinated, or 80 and above even if you are vaccinated.

“So for 98 per cent of us, if we catch Covid-19, we can recover by ourselves at home, just as we would if we had the flu.”

This is why Singapore is shifting to relying heavily on home recovery for Covid-19 cases, although those who live with vulnerable family members can still recover at an isolation facility, Mr Lee said. 

This will ease the strain on Singapore’s healthcare system and free up beds for Covid-19 patients who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill.

Mr Lee acknowledged that many people are concerned about recovering at home because they are fearful of the disease itself, fret about passing it on to household members and worry about whether they will receive adequate care and support at home should they get worse.

But he said that the authorities will provide the necessary care and support for everyone on home recovery. 

“Earlier, our service delivery fell short. But we have worked hard to fix this, and put things right. If at any point you need to be admitted to hospital or a Covid-19 treatment facility, we will get you there.” 

HEALTH PROTOCOLS

Since Covid-19 has become a manageable disease with vaccination, Mr Lee said that health protocols can be simplified.

There will be no more complicated flow charts and people must be clear what to do if they test positive, or if they come into contact with someone who is infected, he added.

At the same time, everyone needs to take personal and social responsibility by testing themselves when necessary, self-isolating if they test positive and consulting a doctor if they have symptoms. 

“Knowing what to do, we will no longer find Covid-19 such a scary disease.” 

He reiterated a point he had made previously, that it is a matter of time before all of us are exposed to the virus. 

While it would be mild for most people, the risk is “very real” for seniors, Mr Lee said, adding that as the number of cases increases, more elders will be infected.

If there are 5,000 Covid-19 cases a day, about 100 are expected to become seriously ill, which is not a small number, he noted.

Even then, fatalities have been kept very low at 142 deaths, most of them seniors with pre-existing medical conditions. 

A disproportionate number of deaths are also unvaccinated seniors, he noted. Even though they form 1.5 per cent of Singapore’s population, they make up 66.7 per cent of patients who have died or have had to be warded in an intensive care unit. 

The remaining 33.3 per cent are vaccinated seniors. 

Unfortunately, not every seriously ill patient will make it through despite best efforts from doctors and nurses, Mr Lee said, adding that there are more than 4,000 people who die of pneumonia every year, most of whom are seniors with other underlying illnesses. 

“Over the next few weeks and months, we will likely see the number of Covid-19-related deaths continue to go up,” he said. 

To reduce the number of people falling seriously ill, the Government will continue to persuade seniors who are not yet immunised to get jabbed. 

Those who have been vaccinated are also encouraged to get their vaccine booster shots. 

“If you are a vaccinated senior, taking the booster reduces your risk of severe infection by more than 10 times,” he said.

“Seniors themselves should take extra precautions. By all means, go out to exercise and get fresh air. But please cut back on makan (eating), kopi (coffee) and beer sessions with your friends and kakis (buddies)." 

Younger people living with elders can also help by cutting down on their social interactions and testing themselves regularly, he said.

As for children younger than 12 years old, Mr Lee acknowledged that parents are understandably anxious about their children catching the virus since vaccines have not yet been approved for this age group. 

The authorities are closely tracking the progress of vaccine trials on children in the United States, and Singapore will start vaccinating these children as soon as vaccines are approved for them and assessed by health experts here to be safe. 

“This will likely be early next year,” he said.