Living with endemic Covid: keeping the effects in check and the country running

WHAT exactly will Singapore have to live with, when it eventually learns to live with endemic Covid-19?

As the official approach sharpens and evolves, the public's shared assumptions about the virus - including how to tackle it, and what counts as cause for alarm - will have to shift in tandem.

Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the multi-ministry taskforce on Covid-19, gave a flavour of the future last week. The government is developing a strategy for the next phase of living with Covid-19 "on a permanent basis", with high vaccination rates and regular booster shots envisaged as part of this, he said in a question-and-answer session at the end of a press conference.