reporter2
23-08-21, 17:02
Singapore's psyche must be prepared for living life with Covid-19
Aug 18, 2021
WITH vaccination coverage on track to reach targets, severe case numbers holding steady, and new daily cases on a downward trend, Singapore's Covid-19 situation appears to have stabilised for now - hopefully enough to allow for the further easing of measures on Aug 19, as planned.
The country's handling of the virus has involved a careful balancing act to protect both "lives and livelihoods", as the now-familiar framing goes. Yet while continuing to keep the pandemic's medical and economic costs under control, attention should be paid to less obviously quantifiable costs too.
In some other places, efforts are understandably concentrated on grappling with the healthcare crisis sparked by waves of infections. Here, strict measures and a largely responsible, cooperative public have afforded Singapore the breathing room to look beyond immediate imperatives and consider less tangible risks, even while keeping a close eye on medical outcomes and economic recovery.
In his National Day Message last week, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong highlighted precisely such issues: the mental toll exacted by the long-drawn fight against Covid-19, as well as societal faultlines that threaten to deepen under the strain of the pandemic.
The pandemic's effects on mental health are of course varied and complex. While some may be addressed by emotional support and intervention - as Mr Lee implied, exhorting Singaporeans to look out for one another and ask for help if needed - others may be inextricably linked to material conditions.
The specific stresses experienced by overstretched frontline health workers, migrant workers still confined to their dormitories, or those who have lost their jobs in this crisis, for instance, are different from the more generalised feelings of fatigue or hopelessness that the general public may feel, even if the pandemic has left them relatively unscathed on a direct, personal level.
But all of these deserve to be tackled: by improving the conditions and prospects of those directly affected; making help and support readily available to the most impacted, as well as more broadly; and keeping national morale high without giving false hope or engendering complacency.
This combination of concrete remedies and appropriate messaging might also apply in handling the societal issues that Mr Lee highlighted: ensuring progress for lower-wage workers, addressing anxieties over foreign workers and preserving Singapore's openness to the world, and managing issues of race and religion.
This weekend's belated National Day celebrations, and the National Day Rally later this month, provide opportunities to both encourage unity through rhetorical appeals and introduce explicit policy provisions to improve conditions.
Beyond these events, the work must continue. In its press conferences, the multi-ministry taskforce on Covid-19 has taken care to acknowledge the public's efforts and provide reasons for hope, without downplaying the long-term need to live with the virus or making hasty promises about the speed of reopening.
Becoming a "Covid-resilient" nation is about more than having practical measures in place. The country's psyche, too, must be prepared for life with Covid-19. Rather than a marathon - which still implies an end-point, distant as it may be - this may simply be a new road that we must walk indefinitely.
Aug 18, 2021
WITH vaccination coverage on track to reach targets, severe case numbers holding steady, and new daily cases on a downward trend, Singapore's Covid-19 situation appears to have stabilised for now - hopefully enough to allow for the further easing of measures on Aug 19, as planned.
The country's handling of the virus has involved a careful balancing act to protect both "lives and livelihoods", as the now-familiar framing goes. Yet while continuing to keep the pandemic's medical and economic costs under control, attention should be paid to less obviously quantifiable costs too.
In some other places, efforts are understandably concentrated on grappling with the healthcare crisis sparked by waves of infections. Here, strict measures and a largely responsible, cooperative public have afforded Singapore the breathing room to look beyond immediate imperatives and consider less tangible risks, even while keeping a close eye on medical outcomes and economic recovery.
In his National Day Message last week, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong highlighted precisely such issues: the mental toll exacted by the long-drawn fight against Covid-19, as well as societal faultlines that threaten to deepen under the strain of the pandemic.
The pandemic's effects on mental health are of course varied and complex. While some may be addressed by emotional support and intervention - as Mr Lee implied, exhorting Singaporeans to look out for one another and ask for help if needed - others may be inextricably linked to material conditions.
The specific stresses experienced by overstretched frontline health workers, migrant workers still confined to their dormitories, or those who have lost their jobs in this crisis, for instance, are different from the more generalised feelings of fatigue or hopelessness that the general public may feel, even if the pandemic has left them relatively unscathed on a direct, personal level.
But all of these deserve to be tackled: by improving the conditions and prospects of those directly affected; making help and support readily available to the most impacted, as well as more broadly; and keeping national morale high without giving false hope or engendering complacency.
This combination of concrete remedies and appropriate messaging might also apply in handling the societal issues that Mr Lee highlighted: ensuring progress for lower-wage workers, addressing anxieties over foreign workers and preserving Singapore's openness to the world, and managing issues of race and religion.
This weekend's belated National Day celebrations, and the National Day Rally later this month, provide opportunities to both encourage unity through rhetorical appeals and introduce explicit policy provisions to improve conditions.
Beyond these events, the work must continue. In its press conferences, the multi-ministry taskforce on Covid-19 has taken care to acknowledge the public's efforts and provide reasons for hope, without downplaying the long-term need to live with the virus or making hasty promises about the speed of reopening.
Becoming a "Covid-resilient" nation is about more than having practical measures in place. The country's psyche, too, must be prepared for life with Covid-19. Rather than a marathon - which still implies an end-point, distant as it may be - this may simply be a new road that we must walk indefinitely.