Singaporeans increasingly support living with Covid, poll shows

[SINGAPORE] 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 per cent 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 per cent in a prior survey conducted earlier this month after the government tightened some anti-virus measures.

About 15 per cent of the 1,201 people queried prefer a strict Covid Zero policy, down from 22 per cent, while 43 per cent prefer a mix of the two approaches, it found.

In a speech on Saturday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pushed for a strategy of living with the virus, as Singapore 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 programmes 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 per cent from 28 per cent 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 per cent called them "somewhat strict".

BLOOMBERG