SG Talk

Quote:At the event, Prof Mak also fielded a question on whether preventing infection spread is no longer a priority for the Government, given the introduction of self-isolation and home recovery.

He stressed that the basic tenets of wanting to prevent the spread have not gone away.

"It's still an emphasis on trying to detect cases, encouraging people to isolate as much as possible to disrupt future transmissions that will just spread... because there are still people who are not vaccinated, who can get seriously ill, require the intensive care unit, and can still die."

But the emphasis of responsibility has now shifted away from the state and towards the individual, Prof Mak said.

MOH will take charge of contact tracing, but a lot more social and personal responsibility will be needed such as for individuals to come forward, get tested, and to self-isolate so as to disrupt the chains of transmission, he said.

"We are beginning to, in a way, increasingly emphasise the role of the individual citizen, people in the community, society, in helping us to manage this and this is perhaps what will allow us to be more resilient."