Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan were once heralded as early successes in the coronavirus battle. However, they are now confronting a new wave of coronavirus cases, fueled by infections coming from elsewhere, according to the New York Times.
In all three places, the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 came from Wuhan, China, however, with vigilant monitoring and early detection and intervention, all three were able to keep case counts down and manageable for weeks. Not one of these places had a single day with more than 10 new cases until March, even as the coronavirus spread around the world.
Hong Kong and Taiwan have been hit with a surge of new cases, mostly imported from other countries, including students who returned from studying abroad. But Singapore has a problem unique to the wealthy, but tiny city-state of fewer than 6 million people.
Singapore’s migrant workers
Until mid-March, Singapore kept its numbers low and trackable, with only small, easily contained clusters, without any real restrictions to daily life.
Prof. Yik-Ying Teo, dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health in Singapore, says that was when countries around the world began urging their citizens to return home. Thousands returned to Singapore from countries that had not been as proactive. Included in the returnees were 500 people who brought the virus with them.
At that time, Singapore did require returnees to stay at home for two weeks, however, other people in their household were told to go about their business as usual. Prof. Teo says it’s easy to say with hindsight that it was a mistake to not limit returnees’ interactions. But the reality is “right now, we know a lot more about the disease compared to back in March”.
“We now know that asymptomatic spread is entirely possible – it does happen and could be the main driver of transmission for Covid-19,” says Prof Teo. He adds that because Singapore has kept such detailed records, it’s been able to learn from the domestic spread. “The measures have evolved with the understanding of where the cases are coming from.”
On Tuesday evening this week, Singapore passed a new law, essentially a partial national lockdown, and it is strict. Everyone is prohibited from leaving their homes except for essential activities and exercise, with fines of up to S$10,000 ($7,000; £5,600) or six months in prison.
Prof. Teo says it “is a reflection of what happened in the past seven days – it doesn’t mean the measures taken are not working.” He goes on to explain the new measures are due to an alarming rise in coronavirus infections in Singapore’s migrant worker population.
Foreigners account for over a third of Singapore’s workforce, and more than 200,000 are migrant workers from Pakistan, Bangladesh and other poorer Asian countries living in 43 registered dormitories across Singapore. Most are employed in construction, shipping, and maintenance.
Singapore is totally dependent on these workers to keep the economy flowing, but social distancing is almost impossible, particularly in the dormitories where 12 men share a room. Close to 500 cases have now been confirmed in several dormitory clusters – one facility alone makes up 15 percent of all cases nationally.
By failing to act sooner, the coronavirus spread quickly. “This is a very major and urgent issue that requires active and urgent intervention,” Lawrence Wong, the national development minister, said in televised remarks.
Prof. Teo says what has happened in the dorms “is an indication of what will happen in some other countries, particularly the lower middle income, less well-resourced countries. All you have to do is look at many countries in South Asia, South East Asia, parts of Africa – there are many communities where the living conditions are very similar to dorms.”
