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Singaporeans increasingly support living with Covid, poll shows

Nearly one-third of Singapore’s residents now support living with Covid-19, a poll showed. (PHOTO: Maverick Asio/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Nearly one-third of Singapore’s residents now support living with Covid-19, a poll showed. (PHOTO: Maverick Asio/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) (SOPA Images via Getty Images)

By Krystal Chia

(Bloomberg) — Nearly one-third of Singapore’s residents now support living with Covid-19, a poll showed, after a push by its leader to treat the pathogen as endemic.

Some 29% of respondents support such a strategy, according to an online poll conducted by Milieu Insight, a Singapore-based consumer insight and analytics firm, compared to 23% in a prior survey conducted earlier this month after the government tightened some anti-virus measures. About 15% of the 1,201 people queried prefer a strict Covid Zero policy, down from 22%, while 43% prefer a mix of the two approaches, it found.

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In a speech on Saturday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pushed for a strategy of living with the virus, as the Southeast Asian nation doubles down on its commitment to shift away from a Covid Zero strategy, a change being followed by stalwarts Australia and New Zealand. Singapore cannot stay closed off indefinitely, though there will continue to be Covid cases, he said.

The government unveiled a host of new measures over the weekend, including simplified testing protocols, home-recovery programs and banning unvaccinated people from malls. It also expanded eligibility for booster shots to those aged 30 and above who were fully vaccinated.

The poll also found:

  • Levels of frustration with Singapore’s strategy for dealing with and managing Covid dropped to 18% from 28% following Lee’s speech

  • Among the new measures announced, respondents were least supportive of quarantine-free travel lanes

  • Nearly half of respondents said the new policies were “just right,” while 23% called them “somewhat strict”

© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.