London CNN More than 18 months after the Coronavirus pandemic, a number of countries have decided it is time to open up and adopt a living with Covid model.
Some have enviable vaccination rates, others have decided that the costs of continued economic and social restrictions outweigh the benefits.
What are the five nations to watch closely for how their new strategies played out?
Denmark: The country that declared precautions over the border.
On September 10th, the Danish government lifted all remaining coronavirus restrictions in the country saying Covid 19 was no longer an illness that is a critical threat to society. Danes can now enter nightclubs and restaurants without showing a Covid passport, use public transport without wearing a face covering and meet in large numbers without restrictions - essentially returning to pre-pandemic life.
The key to Denmark's success lies partly in its vaccination rollout: as of September 13 over 74% of Denmark's population was fully vaccinated against Covid - 19, according to Our World in Data.
The transmission rate, or R-rate, currently stands at 0.7, Health Minister Magnus Heunicke tweeted Wednesday, meaning that the epidemic is continuing to decline. If it is less than 1.0, Covid 19 cases will increase in the near future. If it is below 1.0, cases will decrease in the near future.
The vaccines and all citizens in Denmark's vast efforts over a long period of time are the basis for us to do so well, Heunicke said.
Despite such optimism, Heunicke sounded a note of caution last month as the government announced an end to the proposed limitations date. And the government will not hesitate to act quickly if the pandemic again threatens important functions in our society, he said.
Singapore: Trying to live with Delta but Covid isn't helping.
Singapore's government announced in June that it planned to move toward a living with the Covid strategy - attempting to control outbreaks with vaccines and monitoring hospitalizations rather than restricting citizens' lives.
The good news is that Covid may never go away. The good news is that it is possible to exist normally with it in our midst, Singapore's top Covid - 19 officials wrote in an op-ed at the time.
Authorities began some restrictions in August, allowing fully vaccinated people to gather in restaurants and dine in groups of five, up from two.
Singapore Covid - 19 Taskforce said it would attempt to limit the outbreak through more frequent mandatory contact tracing, higher ring-fencing cases and clusters and more aggressive testing for high-risk workers.
Singapore switched an aggressive zero-Covid strategy before shifting its approach, and has one of the highest Covid – 19 vaccination rates in the world, with 81% of the population fully vaccinated.
Thailand: Slow vaccin takeup, but it's opening up anyway.
According to Reuters, tourists who are fully vaccinated against Covid 19 and commit to a testing regime will be allowed to enter the capital, Hua Hin, Pattaya and Chiang Mai.
The island of Phuket has vaccinated foreign visitors on 1 July 2015 without quarantine requirements. On July 15th, a similar program was launched in the islands of Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao dubbed Samui Plus. Although the country has kept infection numbers low in 2020 thanks to successful containment measures, Thailand struggled to keep cases in check this year.
The vaccination rates are lagging behind the ones of others. Just under 18% of the Thai population were completely vaccinated against Covid as of September 13 according to our World in Data, with a further 21% partially vaccinated.
The nationwide nighttime sleep curfew has been shortened to 11 p.m. until 4 a.m. The size of gatherings allowed has increased to 250 people indoor and 500 outdoors, and the restrictions on alcohol sales have been further reduced
Ramaphosa added that a devastating third wave of infections led by the more transmissible Delta variant was not over, but warned that the country now has enough vaccine doses 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 comply with remaining restrictions to allow the country to get back to normal.
The third wave is not yet over, and it is only through our actions individually and collectively that we can reduce the number of new infections, he said.
The country has already started distributing booster shots to those who are fully vaccinated. Health authorities have approved the use of the Chinese vaccine Sinovac for children aged six and over; inoculations started on Monday.
Despite the threat of delta variant, the government announced moves on Wednesday to reopen the country to international tourism from October 1 until just in time for the southern hemisphere nation's summer season.
Foreign non-residents will be able to enter at present provided they meet certain requirements and isolate for five days on arrival.
The fact that inbound tourists can come to Chile is an important step for the recovery of foreign tourism in Chile, declared Under-Secretary of Tourism Jos Luis Uriarte. It's important to point out that this is the first step and we will be able to continue moving forward as long as we maintain the proper health conditions.