Coronavirus: Singapore shuns US-style mass reopening; Thailand imposes stricter curbs in Bangkok

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said Singapore would seek a ‘middle path’ between approach taken by US and UK, and outlook China and Australia have adopted

Meanwhile, a UK study found that most young people face an ‘extremely low’ risk of illness and death from Covid-19, as the Philippines let children go outside

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A cyclist rides past the skyline of Singapore’s financial district. Photo: EPA

Published: 12:52pm, 9 Jul 2021Updated: 8:37pm, 9 Jul 2021

Singapore will not take the same approach as Britain and the United States for mass reopening, but neither will it keep the sort of restrictive outlook that China and Australia have adopted, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said.

“I think what we want is to take a more middle path. Get ourselves vaccinated, that’s critical, maintain both containment and mitigation measures,” Ong said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin, adding the city state would “open up progressively package by package, nothing big bang, and each step of the way make sure we keep populations safe.”

Singapore has rapidly expanded access to vaccinations in recent weeks, opening immunisation to almost everyone 12 and older. The result has been a surge in vaccinations with the country now boasting one of the best vaccination rates in Asia, having administered more first doses than New York and London.

People aged 70 or older wait in an observation area after receiving a dose of Covid-19 vaccine in Singapore in January. Photo: Reuters

Its government has for more than a year pursued a relatively successful “zero-Covid” strategy that limited severe cases and deaths with strict border controls, mandatory masks and aggressive social distancing and contact tracing efforts.

Mass vaccination will be the key to reopening in a world where Covid-19 probably cannot be eradicated, the government has said, with a goal of eventually being able to manage it like influenza.

Singapore is on track to hit its goal of two-thirds of the population fully vaccinated by National Day on August 9, although Ong warned that herd immunity may be elusive because of more transmissible variants of the disease.