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Singapore has reported 455 cases and two fatalities in exactly two months since its first confirmed case on 23 January. Assistant Professor Clarence Tam attributed the relatively well-controlled outbreak in both Hong Kong and Singapore to our small size and reinforced border control, which allowed for intensive contact tracing and screening. “Testing early and extensively, and effective isolation, contact tracing and quarantining has been key to bringing epidemics under control,” he said. Responding to concerns on school closures, Dr Tam said, “For COVID-19 we don’t currently know how much childrenRead more

From painkillers to antibiotics, China has been a major supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for a range of medicines. In this established supply system, companies have become increasingly reliant on lower-cost manufacturers in China. But the current outbreak could prompt overseas drug makers to consider diversifying their source of supply. “The trade-off between concentration risk and low prices was accepted by the world for many years, but I suspect COVID-19 will force a rethink of national strategies for pharmaceutical procurement,” said Associate Professor Jeremy Lim, Co-Director of the Leadership

A spike in COVID-19 cases globally has resulted in numerous countries taking stricter measures to control the spread, including Malaysia, who declared a nationwide lockdown that begun on Wednesday, 18 March. On 20 March, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong dispelled rumours that Singapore was going into a lockdown. “Can I just make it very clear? There is no lockdown,” he said in a press conference. The lockdown approach appears to have worked for China, with Hubei reporting zero new infections since the virus first emerged there. But Associate Professor Hsu

Beijing and Hong Kong have stepped up quarantine measures in the face of a second wave of infection, fuelled by incoming citizens and visitors, and threatening to undo previous efforts. COVID-19 cases reported in China and Hong Kong recently were mostly imported, with the number of domestic cases in the mainland dropping to zero for the first time since the virus emerged last December. All arrivals in Beijing are required self-isolate for 14 days in a designated hotel, while those in Hong Kong must undergo a 14-day self-isolation at home

Over 5,000 people here would have been infected with COVID-19 by now, if not for Singapore’s tough measures such as contact tracing and quarantines. As of 19 March, the total number of cases in Singapore is 345. “Right now, cases are sufficiently low, so the Government is able to put a lot of effort into contact tracing,” said Associate Professor Alex Cook, Vice Dean (Research) and Domain Leader (Biostatistics and Modelling). This, together with other measures such as border checks, has managed to reduce the transmission rate of the disease

Singapore has worked a number of calibrated responses that can be divided into three broad buckets, said Associate Professor Jeremy Lim, Co-Director of the Leadership Institute for Global Health Transformation (LIGHT). “Firstly, we sought very hard to reduce the number of cases that are imported from overseas. Secondly, there was a very strenuous effort to identify local cases quickly and to minimise community spread. And thirdly, social distancing measures were also put in place to mitigate the impact of any community spread,” he said. He was speaking on The World,

Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan have been hailed for using our experience with SARS to combat the current COVID-19. “Somewhat perversely, we can look at SARS as the dress rehearsal,” said Associate Professor Jeremy Lim, Co-Director, Leadership Institute for Global Health Transformation (LIGHT). “The experience was raw, and very, very visceral. And on the back of [it], better systems were put in place.” While it is still too early for anywhere to declare victory, we have managed to keep numbers low so far, with praise for our quick response, rigorous