Angbao, Blackjack, Chinese ‘Lo Hei’? Singapore’s potential Circuit Breaker 2.0 might ruin your plans
0 clusters, 0 community cases, 0 further restrictions. This is what all Singaporeans were hoping for to enter the festive period of Chinese New Year. It has been a year since Singapore had its first case of COVID-19, first appearing on January 23, 2020. 2020 was the year Singaporeans revealed their true selves, with people rushing to stockpile toilet rolls, the year of the famed Circuit Breaker and the year when Singaporeans had their pandemic government elections.
In 2021, with local community cases creeping up consistently to 4 per day and COVID-19 clusters popping up, the multi-ministry task force spearheaded by Education Minister Lawrence Wong and Health Minister Gan Kim Yong has warned Singaporeans of potential further restrictions ahead of Chinese New Year. Mr Wong said, “There will be potentially a lot more intermingling, a lot more interaction…Therefore, we are considering now whether or not there might be additional restrictions and safeguards…”.
Authorities say that they are still deciding on the restrictions and are unable to provide further details on “exactly what they are, whether they pertain to house visitations, what kind of measures”. However, reflecting on the past year, Singapore seems to be in a much better position to handle the pandemic, with the population to thank for their efforts and co-operation in the fight against COVID-19. As such, Mr Wong mentioned that one potential vulnerability might come in the form of complacency, stating that “if we start to let our guards down… social response and behaviours, and in terms of how people comply to measures… then it will be very easy for new clusters to emerge”.
If Chinese New Year traditions were to carry on, complacency is a trait Singaporeans cannot possess. COVID-19 is clearly not over, as highlighted by Mr Gan and Mr Wong, and to have the Chinese New Year Singaporeans hope for, vigilance is key and knowing that “the next pandemic is only (a) short distance away”.