Thread by @opinion

Singapore says it wants to back away from strict rules to combat Covid-19 and the curbs on commercial and social life that come with them.

But the reality on the ground shows a lack of conviction
trib.al/3miYoiS

Singapore returned to a lockdown-like state in mid-May. The situation has improved quickly:

🏫 Schools will resume in-person after summer break
🍽️ Larger social gatherings and dining-in are permitted trib.al/ymeOmie

Singapore wants the outward signs of being open for business, but appears unwilling to take risks to get there:

➡️ Showcase events have been shelved
➡️ An air-travel bubble with Hong Kong has gone nowhere trib.al/ymeOmie

Certain experiences illustrate the split-screen life in Singapore:

🎙️ Recorded music is forbidden, lest people talk too loudly over the noise and transmit germs
🚆 Public transport users are urged to be silent during their journey trib.al/ymeOmie

Politicians now talk about Covid as endemic, something that vaccinated people can tolerate without falling very ill.

Officials have held out the prospect of removing masks outdoors and a revival of the travel industry trib.al/ymeOmie

Yet after more than a year of on-again, off-again crackdowns, it's hard to see Singapore dispensing with the extreme risk aversion that's defined its response to the Covid-19 pandemic trib.al/ymeOmie

The approach has delivered impressive results:

➡️ Deaths have been few
➡️ Hospitals are coping
➡️ DIY test kits are available at pharmacies
➡️ Two-thirds of the country’s 5.7 million people should be fully inoculated by August trib.al/ymeOmie

But there is a lack of specifics about how substantially life will change after Singapore’s vaccination push.

Officials have floated the idea that inoculated people will have more scope to travel.

But how much more? Where will they be allowed to go? trib.al/ymeOmie

There is a risk that Singapore imprisons itself in this relative success.

All the country needs to do is step out of the way. When the pace of recovery slows next year, the moves will have to be a lot bolder trib.al/ymeOmie