Zero-Covid-19 strategy no longer feasible: PM Lee

Delta strain has changed situation and S’pore won’t be able to stamp it out through lockdowns, curbs

- Grace Ho, Senior Political Correspondent

A zero-Covid-19 strategy is no longer feasible given how infectious the Delta variant is, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as he set out the country’s situation and what has changed.

With vaccinations, the virus has become a mild, treatable disease for most, he added, urging people to go about their daily activities as normally as possible, taking necessary precautions and complying with safe management measures.

Key to this shift is updating mindsets to respect the virus but not be paralysed by fear, PM Lee said in an address to the nation yesterday.

Acknowledging Singaporeans’ anxieties, he added that many have found it difficult to keep up with new policies and changes to measures, and that he understood their concerns and frustrations.

At the start of the outbreak last year, Singapore was dealing with an unknown disease, and adjusted its strategy as the authorities learnt more about the virus, he said.

“Our original approach was to do our utmost to prevent Singaporeans from being exposed to Covid-19. We tightened safe management measures as much as necessary, to bring cases down to a very low level. We judged this the best way to minimise serious illness and deaths,” he said.

“Zero Covid” was the right strategy then and helped avert a huge loss of lives that many countries saw, he added.