In spite of the economic and social pain of the circuit breaker, Singaporeans should appreciate the caution displayed by the authorities over the prospects for a further easing of restrictive measures. The coronavirus situation would need to improve markedly by June 1. Essentially, community cases would have to remain low or drop further, and the cases in migrant worker dormitories would need to come clearly under control. Singapore also will need to increase its capacity to test for the virus before the economy can restart fully. Reassuringly, there are plans to eventually increase testing capacity to 40,000 tests a day, up from 8,000 now. Patently, these are high standards to achieve, but they are necessary to help ensure that Singapore is not hit again by a wave of infections after the circuit breaker is lifted. Normal economic activities cannot resume if the epidemiological situation continues to be threatening.

Indeed, an essential takeaway from ministerial statements in Parliament on Monday is that easing up on measures prematurely and without proper safeguards in place may result in a second wave of local transmission and force another round of tightening. That would hurt the economy again, defeating the purpose of efforts to relieve some of today's economic pain. The experiences of other nations show that most, too, are cautionary in this regard. It would do well to watch developments and not slacken off here.