Netizen: MMTF’s Commitment To Reopening Is Useless Without Clear Action Plan!

Just last week, our COVID cases were in the 2000s, and cases of deaths are reported every day. In an open letter to the MMTF, a Reddit netter pointed out the pitfalls of the MMTF’s current strategy in dealing with the spike in cases.

The netizen rightfully notes that the MMTF’s commitment to the reopening is useless when they don’t have a clear action plan.

“I welcome the Multi-Ministry Taskforce’s reiterated commitment to continuing with reopening plans. However, I do not believe that this commitment is credible without a clear action plan to further reduce the incidence of severe or high-risk cases that the healthcare system will need to manage. “

He also points out that the MMTF’s advisory for seniors to reduce their social interactions in the next 4 weeks is useless without other measures in place. For example, a number of seniors unfortunately still have to go to work (thanks to the “swiss standard of living” the PAP says we have). Even if they reduce social interactions, they risk getting infected in their workplaces.

For seniors who live with other household members, they also risk getting infected by their household members. This risk is even higher with the new home recovery practices. The younger ones when tested positive are asked to stay at home to recover as long as they have their own room and they are not living with someone above 80 years old. What kind of arbitrary number is 80? What about those who are 79? And those with pre-existing medical conditions even if they are 65?

Also, the MMTF keeps shifting their goalpost. They said that we can reopen when we most are fully vaccinated – we are already at 80%, where is the sign of that? They also said that we have to be prepared for 5000 cases, when previously they said 3000, who knows what number they will raise it to when we hit 5000?

How can they expect the elderly to believe that if they listen to the measures now things will get better? Especially since it’s been 2 years and our situation is worse than before.

“While the latest advice only stipulated that seniors should stay home for the next 4 weeks, this end-date is not believable. There is no reason for seniors to trust that the situation 4 weeks (or indeed 4 months) from now will be safe enough for them to resume normal life. As a result, many of them may well feel that if it is a choice between keeping themselves home for a month and facing the same danger of Covid infection one month later, or simply continuing to go out and face the danger now, the latter is the more sensible option. It is both unfeasible and unfair to expect seniors to comply with public health measures that call for no small degree of sacrifice on their part, and are seemingly indefinite.”

The MMTF need to step out of their ivory towers to see it from the perspective of normal Singaporeans! Not everyone has a big house with ensuite toilets in every other room that they can serve their home recovery/quarantine order in. Not everyone has the amount of money they have and many seniors still have to work at a ripe old age.

And also, how can they relate, when there hasn’t been one single COVID case among the men in white? What do they know about having to suddenly be locked at home because your colleague was found to be COVID positive? What do they know about having to put your income and your life on hold?