Some have enviable vaccination rates; others have decided that the costs of economic and social constraints continue to outweigh the benefits.
Here are five nations that need to keep a close eye on how their new strategies are developed.
The Danish government lifted all remaining coronavirus restrictions in the country on September 10, saying Covid-19 was no longer “a disease that poses a critical threat to society.”
Now Danes can enter nightclubs and restaurants without showing a “Covid passport,” use public transportation without wearing any face cover, and gather in large numbers without restrictions, essentially returning to pre-pandemic life.
The key to Denmark’s success lies in part in the launch of its vaccination: as of September 13, more than 74% of Denmark’s population was fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to Our World in Data.
The transmission rate, or R rate, is currently at 0.7, Health Minister Magnus Heunicke tweeted on Wednesday, meaning the epidemic continues to decline. If it is higher than 1.0, Covid-19 cases will increase in the near future. If it is less than 1.0, the cases will decrease in the near future.
“Vaccines and all the citizens of Denmark’s great efforts over a long period of time are the basis for us to do so well,” Heunicke said.
Despite this optimism, Heunicke showed a cautionary note last month when the government announced the expected end date of the restrictions. “Even though we are in a good place right now, we are not coming out of the epidemic. And the government will not hesitate to act quickly if the pandemic threatens important functions in our society again,” he said.
Singapore: I try to live with Covid, but Delta doesn’t help
The Singapore government announced in June that it planned to move forward with life with the Covid strategy: try to control outbreaks with vaccines and control hospitalizations instead of restricting the lives of citizens.
“The bad news is that Covid-19 may never go away. The good news is that it is possible to live with it normally in the midst of us,” Singapore’s top Covid-19 officials wrote in an opinion at the time. .
Authorities began easing some restrictions in August, allowing them to dine at fully vaccinated restaurants and gather in groups of five, rather than two.
Singapore’s Covid-19 working group said it would try to limit the outbreak through more aggressive contact tracking, “ring closure” cases and clusters, and more frequent mandatory testing for high-risk workers.
Singapore followed an aggressive “zero-covida strategy” before changing its approach and has one of the highest covid-19 vaccination rates in the world, with 81% of the population fully vaccinated.
Thailand: Slow adoption of vaccines, but it opens anyway
According to the expanded program, tourists who are completely vaccinated against Covid-19 and commit to a testing regime will be able to enter the capital, Hua Hin, Pattaya and Chiang Mai, according to Reuters.
The island of Phuket reopened vaccinated foreign visitors on July 1 with no quarantine requirements. On July 15, the country launched a similar program on the islands of Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao, called “Samui Plus”.
While keeping the number of infections low in 2020 thanks to successful containment measures, Thailand has struggled to control cases this year.
Vaccination rates are lagging behind those of some neighbors. Just under 18% of the Thai population was fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of September 13, according to Our World in Data, with 21% more partially vaccinated.
South Africa: easing restrictions, but Delta remains a threat
Among other measures, the night curfew nationwide has been reduced from 11pm to 4am, the size of the permitted meetings has been increased to 250 people indoors and 500 in the outdoors and restrictions on the sale of alcohol have been further reduced.
Ramaphosa warned that a devastating third wave of infections caused by the more transmissible Delta variant was not over, but added that the country now has enough doses of vaccine to cover the entire adult population, with more than a quarter of adults receiving at least one dose.
He encouraged everyone to get vaccinated and meet the remaining restrictions to allow the country to return to normal.
“The third wave is not over yet, and only through our actions individually and collectively will we be able to reduce the number of new infections,” he said.
Chile: High vaccination rates allow tourists to return
The country has already begun distributing booster shots to those who are fully vaccinated. Health authorities on Thursday approved the use of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine for children six years of age or older; inoculations began on Monday.
Despite the threat posed by the Delta variant, the government on Wednesday announced measures to reopen the country to international tourism from October 1, just in time for the nation’s summer season. of the southern hemisphere.
Non-resident aliens will be able to enter as long as they meet certain requirements and are isolated for five days upon arrival.
“The fact that foreign tourists can come to Chile is an important step for the recovery of inbound tourism,” said José Luis Uriarte, Undersecretary of Tourism. “It’s important to point out that this is the first step and we will be able to keep moving forward as long as we maintain the right health conditions.”
CNN’s Ben Westcott, David McKenzie, Henrik Petterssen and Jack Guy contributed to this report.