At least a few hundred thousand people tuned in to watch Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong address the nation on May 31, 2021 and lay out his vision for Singapore in dealing with Covid-19.

PM Lee's 4pm Monday address was highly anticipated in the third week of Phase 2 (Heightened Alert), as it could portend either stricter measures or a loosening of restrictions given the current outlook.

In the end, PM Lee sounded an optimistic note in his morale-booster of an address.

He did this by laying out a vision for Singapore in a Covid-19 world, while also acknowledging the efforts put in by Singaporeans to keep new cases low and manageable the past two weeks, thanking those here for working together, as well as encouraging people to get vaccinated as soon as they can.

Thousands tune in

Singapore's economic productivity likely took a small hit as the 20-minute live telecast of PM Lee's address on his own Facebook page was watched by some 82,000 users in the late afternoon of a weekday.

His live speech was also simultaneously telecast on other Facebook and YouTube platforms, which each receiving tens of thousands of viewers each, as well as being shown on terrestrial television broadcast.

About 12,000 users watched PM Lee's address on Mothership's Facebook page, while Mothership's YouTube channel recorded 66,000 views.

In other words, at least a few hundred thousand viewers witnessed PM Lee's speech live.

Some good news

The big audience presence after two weeks of restricted movement signalled they would be receptive to any good news.

And PM Lee did not disappoint as he delivered a roadmap pointing out how things would be done moving forward.

He sounded a cautious note as well, as he said Singapore would move on to re-open and carry on with life, but with adjustments, giving examples as to how to go about achieving this new normal.

Testing, tracing & vaccination

The main message was focused on testing, contact tracing and vaccination -- all of which Singapore is getting better at.

He told Singaporeans to expect "routine, large-scale, fast and simple testing" in exchange for a semblance of normality.

He also said vaccines should be given to the greatest number of people by doling out one dose each at least: "This approach will quickly provide the maximum number of people with good protection, instead of a good number of people with maximum protection."

The goal is to reopen the economy for events -- concerts, sports, religious activities -- for the masses, and welcome travellers as Singapore reclaims its spot as the hub of the world.

He also thanked Singaporeans for biting the bullet, even though not adopting any of these measures was to opt out of polite society: "Because of Singaporeans’ self-discipline, public spirit and support of TraceTogether and SafeEntry, we are contact tracing faster and more comprehensively."

And he continued to call everyone as a collective.

PM Lee added: "Meanwhile, I count on everyone to keep up our efforts and stay vigilant."

Covid-19 will remain for a long time

One of the most important messages PM Lee delivered was the expectation that Covid-19 will be with humanity for a long time.

"In the new normal, Covid-19 will not dominate our lives," PM Lee said. He assured that Singaporeans will be able to participate in social activities and reopen borders eventually.

— Mothership (@MothershipSG) May 31, 2021

He said: "One day this global pandemic will subside. But I do not expect Covid-19 to disappear."

"It will remain with humankind, and become endemic. The virus will continue to circulate in pockets of the global population for years to come."

"This also means we will see small outbreaks of the disease from time to time in Singapore as well."

Although not mentioned, the virus could be seen as akin to dengue, which breaks out from time to time, but populations with the wherewithal can grow accustomed to it and even control its spread and severity.

And with that, PM Lee was essentially telling Singaporeans: Welcome to the new normal.