COVID-19: An Updated Situation from Singapore
Ke-Yan Loo, Angel Yun-Kuan Thye, Lydia Ngiik-Shiew Law, Jodi Woan‐Fei Law
Abstract
Since the first reports of COVID-19 in 2019, the viral respiratory disease has spread across nations, sending the world into a global pandemic. The pandemic has heavily impacted the public health of the global community. Over 237 million confirmed cases have been reported, and more than 4.8 million lives have been lost due to the novel coronavirus. In Singapore, the government quickly took action in the early stages of the pandemic to limit the spread of the virus to protect the local communities from the disease. Singapore has been able to keep their confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths at low numbers by implementing movement restrictions, raising public awareness, mask mandates, social distancing, providing free vaccinations for the public, and utilizing advancements in technology for contact tracing. The public has also upheld their social responsibility in cooperating with the Singaporean government to control the disease spread. COVID-19 is now moving into an endemic phase in Singapore as the vaccination rates are at an all-time high resulting in lower death rates, and the confirmed cases are primarily mild to asymptomatic. Singapore has set a precedent for how pandemics can be handled in the future to minimize mortality rates and protect public health.