After apparently "eliminating" covid for nearly one year, Singapore is now reporting one of the highest case rates on Earth, bested only by the nations of the Caribbean and Balkans:
Singapore had been following a "zero covid" strategy but opted to begin re-opening once the vast majority of the population had been fully vaccinated.
Unfortunately, having 9 of 10 adults fully vaccinated has not prevented an "exponential" rise in transmission:
More disturbingly, a spike in fatalities has followed cases in Singapore, despite astronomical vaccination uptake:
In fact, the CFR in Singapore has worsened post-vax compared to the first wave in 2020 with 83% of all covid deaths landing after the vast majority of the population had been vaccinated:
However, the cumulative CFR in Singapore is only 0.1% (about the same as the annual flu) and total deaths remain miniscule:
The low fatality rate in Singapore is most likely due to the lack of obesity and large numbers of young, healthy migrant workers as well as, perhaps, prior immunity to similar viruses.
Despite the rising cases and fatalities, Singapore appears to have fully abandoned "zero covid" and now accepts that the only path forward is to live with the virus.
After all, with nearly everyone vaccinated, what other choice do they have?
Apparently, public health officials and nearly 1/4 of the population would prefer to remain hiding, indefinitely, but the government has recognized that despite the vaccines failing to prevent the spread of covid, they must reopen the country.
ft.com/content/530258…
The dramatic growth in cases & deaths in Singapore has not resulted from mass gatherings or people throwing off their masks. In fact, mask mandates remain and even outdoors more than 90% are masked.
The city itself remains eerily quiet:
Thankfully, despite the protests of those in public health, Singapore appears committed to reopening - borders are no longer closed.
Oddly, despite the vax clearly not halting spread w/i Singapore, they are only allowing entry to those fully vaccinated.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
One reason they've given up on an elimination strategy could have something to do with this;
msn.com/en-us/news/wor…
I'm sure the decision has nothing to do with the lives of migrant workers who have been sentenced to an unimaginable living hell for 18 months:
nytimes.com/2021/09/29/wor…
In the end, closing borders, imprisoning populations, mandating masks, and vaccinating nearly every adult has not stopped covid from coming to Singapore, just as it will come for us all.
All they have accomplished is delaying the inevitable while immiserating their people.
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