Moving a pandemic to endemic is a model that will be done for COVID-19 in Singapore. Being a port city, trade and travelling is most important and sustain isolation will do more harm than good. While I look forward to this, there are many things we are learning from pandemic.
Mindset Adaption
There are a few mindsets that needs to be recalibrated for us to be adaptive. Work From Home (WFH) will stay and jobs are no longer constrained to office space. Many jobs also cannot be totally relied by external workers. Food security have been accelerated to reduce dependency of food imports when borders are closed. Digitalisation have also been ramped up to enabled automation.
Mask and Hygiene Culture
Have everyone realise that flu is lower as well? Seems the mask culture will be here to stay if anyone fall sick. Tray return is also mandatory as we move to a hygiene approach to keep the country clean. This also helps to increase focus of cleaning to sanitise instead of picking your trash.
The announcement to endemic will come soon as vaccination gain momentum. We will likely continue to practice what we learn during the pandemic. Have an open mind to continue the goodness learnt during COVID-19.
Danny Kwok 