Singapore — In a recent Facebook post, Former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Calvin Cheng suggested that Singapore should stop counting the number of Covid-19 infections.
At the start of his post, Mr Cheng surmises that during the next few months, Singapore can expect to see a few thousand Covid-19 cases per month. As such, Singapore should stop keeping track of the numbers.
A majority of the cases will be unlinked. However, those who find themselves unwell should self-isolate. He urges people to err on the side of caution and to prevent passing on the virus to others by staying home.
Mr Cheng also says that the number of imported cases will soon fail to hold any relevance since Singapore does not tally the number of imported cases for any other diseases.
He adds that the number of deaths caused by Covid-19 will be bound to increase as well. To date, the death toll in Singapore has reached 41. 41 deaths in the span of a year and a half are less than the number of deaths caused by cases of flu in a normal year, according to Mr Cheng.
“It’s an unreasonable standard to maintain,” Mr Cheng explains.
He also urges Singaporeans to go for their vaccinations, so the vaccination rate will rise, while also encouraging those who are eligible to receive booster jabs if the jabs become available to the public.
“This is the new normal for the world,” Mr Cheng adds. “Accept it.”
Some agreed that it was time to take calculated risks so that Singapore’s economy will be able to survive, and that it is difficult to tell what course of action is ideal at the moment; we can only judge whether the risk was worth it several years later.
You Zi Xuan is an intern at The Independent SG. /TISG