Singapore crawls back to “normal” after abnormal Covid-19 Presidential Elections

With more activities and events resuming, borders gradually reopening and most foreign workers set to resume work this month, Singapore is cautiously moving towards a new normal amid the pandemic.

But while certain restrictions are lifted, life will not return to what it was before the worldwide spread of the coronavirus, the task force warned.The chairman of the country’s Covid-19 task force said Singapore should not let its guard down even though the total number of new Covid-19 cases in Singapore is likely to taper down by end-August as dormitories are cleared.

“We have seen the experiences everywhere in the world… where so long as there is a lapse in the community or people do not observe the safe management practices carefully, these low levels of infection can suddenly flare up into large clusters anywhere, anytime,” he cautioned.

Working from home should remain the default for employees, and where possible, events should remain fully virtual, or take on a hybrid physical-virtual form, added Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, who is also a task force co-chair.

This includes large gatherings and festivities surrounding national and community occasions, said Mr Gan, pointing to the upcoming National Day celebrations, which has been scaled down with around 150 parade spectators and 300 participants.

Mr Gan said: “With a right mindset and attitude, we can adapt and make the best of the situation, even if we need to continue with safe distancing measures.”

Such actions will help keep community cases low, he said, adding: “That will allow us to continue to see how we can ease the restrictions, to allow more activities to resume, more interaction to happen while continuing to exercise safe distancing.”