April 2020

Governments around the world are beginning to ease restrictions as the virus shows signs of slowing down. There are discussions in a number of countries about the use of ‘immunity certificates’ that would allow people to show they have antibodies to the disease and are therefore allowed to work or travel. But the World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned against such measures. “There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” WHO said. Assistant Professor Hannah Clapham commented

On 21 April, the government announced the extension of Singapore’s ‘circuit breaker’ measures to 1 June. While there are encouraging signs that the measures have been effective so far, Dean, Professor Teo Yik Ying said that the numbers of new cases have not fallen as quickly as expected. He added that after more than two weeks, the number of new cases in the community should have been lower. “This really points to some ‘leakages’ happening in the community, either amongst people who are supposed to be home but have been

Assistant Professor Clarence Tam and his team have been awarded grant funding from the Wellcome Trust to strengthen the evidence base on SARS-CoV-2. They will conduct a serological study to investigate the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the general population in three settings in Asia: Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand. The study aims to provide crucial information regarding population exposure and SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics; and to give a complete picture of the relationship between clinically apparent and asymptomatic infections. The team comprises researchers from Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand: Dr

Most Singaporeans will remember the 2003 SARS epidemic, or the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. Less well remembered are three other influenza pandemics of the 20th century: the 1918 Spanish flu, the 1957 ‘Asian flu’ and the 1968 ‘Hong Kong flu’. As we face the current COVID-19 outbreak, what are the lessons that we can learn by looking back at past pandemics? Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, Programme Leader (Infectious Diseases) said, “There are broad parallels that can be drawn between these pandemics, largely because human behaviour has not changed much over

The number of new daily local cases has held steady over the past two weeks, with an average of 37 a day in the last week. Vice Dean (Research), Associate Professor Alex Cook said that the ‘circuit breaker’ measures are targeted at reducing such local cases, and there have been “quite reassuring signs” that it is working so far. “Sufficient time has passed for the majority of household transmissions, if any, to have occurred, as a result of people staying at home,” added Dean, Professor Teo Yik Ying. Still, residents

During a virtual ‘Special ASEAN Plus Three Summit on COVID-19’ held on 14 April, ASEAN leaders and the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea pledged to boost cooperation to curb the spread of the coronavirus and mitigate the pandemic’s devastating economic fallout. In a declaration after the summit, ASEAN leaders emphasised a ‘whole-of-ASEAN community approach’ to the virus outbreak and called on member states to help each other. This includes keeping trade routes open to protect food supplies and medical equipment, the development of a post-pandemic recovery plan, and

Singapore recorded its highest daily increase earlier this week, with 386 new cases confirmed on 13 April. We are now fighting COVID-19 on two distinct fronts — in the community and in foreign worker dormitories, said Dean, Professor Teo Yik Ying. While the government has implemented more measures to curb further spread in the dorms, Prof Teo said that it will take some time to see the effects of these new measures. He foresees that the number of dorm-linked cases will continue to increase in the meantime. On the community