Struggle shows colossal task of containment in Singapore
HELD up as a role model for its battle against coronavirus, citystate Singapore is struggling with an infection spread that disease experts say bodes ill for global containment efforts.
The tiny South-East Asian nation was one of the worst hit countries when the virus first spread from China in January, but a strict surveillance and quarantine regime helped stem the tide, with methods that drew praise from the World Health Organisation.
As the virus later formed new hotspots in Europe and the United States, infecting nearly one million people globally, the trading and travel hub closed its borders.
Guarding against the virus in Singapore is easier than in most places. The island of 5.7 million people takes less than an hour to drive across, has a handful of international entry points and a strong healthcare system.
So far only four people have died, but the containment measures are showing signs of strain.
On Wednesday, Singapore reported its biggest daily jump in coronavirus cases, up 74 to 1,000 infections. More than 70% of those were domestic as opposed to imported, and many were unlinked to previous cases, a gauge of how far the disease is spreading in the community.
Experts say the breaches of Singapore’s defences show how difficult it will be to curb the coronavirus spread elsewhere.
“Singapore’s approach has been by far one of the very best,” said Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota.
“What they are really showing the rest of the world is that this is just a difficult virus to beat back and keep down.”
Singapore’s domestic cases have doubled over the last week alone, while its total infections have increased nearly tenfold in the last month.
“We should be mindful of what we do and where we go now,” said
Irving Chung, a 43-year old compliance manager, describing Wednesday’s record case numbers as “worrying”.
Singapore’s top medical authority Kenneth Mak said this week that the rising caseload was “cause for concern” and that they would closely monitor the trend over the coming weeks to assess whether intensified prevention measures were working. — Reuters