covid-19

With support from the Rotary Club of Singapore (RCS), the School organised a virtual public forum on 5 June 2021 to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, titled ‘Why Hesitate? All You Want to Know about the COVID-19 Vaccination’. In view of circulating misinformation and recent community transmission, including among fully vaccinated individuals, the forum aimed to answer questions from the public around the COVID-19 vaccines. The event saw over 300 attendees and was graced by guest-of-honour Ms Low Yen Ling, Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth & Trade and

In their latest comic on COVID-19, award-winning cartoonist Sonny Liew and Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang explain why vaccinations are key even as new variants emerge, and the possibility of a future with the coronavirus. The comic was published in The Straits Times on 31 May 2021 (From Pandemic to Endemic?) and is also available to read below.

Shopping malls like JEM and Westgate were ordered by the Ministry of Health to close for two weeks to curb the spread of COVID-19 after several shoppers there had tested positive. In an interview with Channel 8, Asst Prof Vincent Pang, Director, Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology & Research, looks at how we can avoid the spread of the coronavirus in shopping malls. As the virus can be transmitted through direct contact with respiratory droplets of an infected person or touching of contaminated surfaces, Dr Pang identified lifts, lobbies, toilets

What might Singapore’s record number of dengue cases and the curious case of a cholera outbreak in Canada have to do with climate change? Associate Professor Yann Boucher was invited on CNA’s ‘The Climate Conversations’ podcast to speak on how climate change affects the way diseases are emerging and transmitted. The discussion with podcast host, Jaime Ho, revolved around the impact of man-made environmental disturbances and pandemics. “Certainly, there’s been changes happening in the environment and one thing to understand is that most diseases, at least the one that spread

Zero locally transmitted cases were reported in Singapore in the past two weeks. This is the longest period without any cases in the community since the pandemic started. “I think it is a good milestone, and it gives us cautious optimism that our current measures, even in Phase Two, are sufficient to reduce the transmissibility of the virus significantly to the point where probably the majority of small outbreaks might burn themselves out,” said Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, Vice Dean (Global Health) and Programme Leader (Infectious Diseases). “But I

The COVID-19 outbreak has brought global travel to an unprecedented halt as countries worldwide imposed travel restrictions in an attempt to contain spread. Yet, many look towards reopening and return to a sense of normalcy while striking a balance between protecting public health and economic survival. As the coronavirus outbreak steadies and comes under control across countries in the Asia Pacific region, governments are exploring different options to reopen their borders. The COVID-19 in Asia Pacific: Border Control and Path to Reopening webinar organised by the School on 21 October,

A policy review published in The Lancet identified five key factors for developing strategies to ease lockdown restrictions: knowledge of infection levels, community engagement, public health capacity, health system capacity, and border control measures. Analysing the successes and failures of nine high-income countries and regions (Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom), the authors found an absence of clear and consistent strategies for exiting restrictions and identified key cross-country lessons that can be learnt. Lead author, Associate Professor Helena Legido-Quigley said, “COVID-19