It’s nearly the end of 2021. COVID-19 and its variants still haunt every conceivable corner of the globe. Yet, in a few days, up to 50% of the workforce is expected or can return to work.
We can expect crowded public transport and packed malls. Though they may not be as packed as pre-COVID (remember those days?), crowds are still expected to throng public spaces.
However, I don’t understand safety measures in this context. Work-from-home is no longer the default arrangement though it may be so for some organisations. I suppose the coronavirus and its cousins will know to stay away from crowded trains, MRT stations, buses, bus stops, underground walkways, offices, and eateries with 5 chairs. Also, the virus isn’t required, whether by law or not, to use TraceTogether or check in to public areas. How nice.
So, safety measures are still in place. Don’t gather in group sizes of more than 5, avoid eating out but instead order takeaway. Then, be absolutely sure to eat at your desk, alone.
Am I currently suffering from COVID-fatigue? I might just be feeling so. A heavily vaccinated population did not see “endemic living” and a more open Singapore. Rather, Singaporeans were told to get their booster shots or otherwise risk being tagged as “unvaccinated”. Granted, COVID is still out there and nobody wants to get it. However, unvaccinated folks will not get to go back to the office even if they test negative for the virus. You know what: Unvaxxed folks–assuming they do not get unlawfully terminated or leave their jobs–actually get to WFH by default.
So, hurray for the unvaxxed? Not quite.
Talk about fighting for WFH. I surely hope that the vaccinated are not mandated to go back to offices. I’m enjoying the WFH life so much; I am several orders of magnitude more productive–my home-work setup easily beats the office. For the unvaxxed, they can continue to work in the comfort and relative (hopeful) peace of their homes. Not everyone owns a conducive environment. But, that’s just how it is.