The number of confirmed cases spiked quickly after, and the country became one of the world's first major hotspots until mid-February, when the number of recovered patients in the city-state was outpacing new ones. News outlets all over the world pointed to Singapore as one of the few places in the world able to quickly and effectively stop the spread of the virus.
In a March 19 article published by global news outlet The Conversation titled, "Why Singapore’s coronavirus response worked – and what we can all learn," Dale Fisher, chair of infection control at the National University Hospital of Singapore, praised Singapore's COVID-19 response as a "model" for the world.
The article explains how Singapore was ready to defeat the virus when the world first became aware of its spread. The National Public Health Laboratory, set up after SARS, was prepared to fast-track testing, using advanced diagnostics and newly developed COVID-19 test kits.
Response efforts mentioned in the article include: mass testing, putting COVID-19 patients in hospitals, keeping those who were in contact with a patient in quarantine, efforts by the media and government to spread awareness about social distancing, allowing life to go on as normal with mass testing and organized leadership.
These efforts did help to contain the virus in Singapore for about two months, but that changed in early March after 47 cases were tracked to a Feb.15 dinner gathering. In mid-March, the country confirmed about 400 cases and no deaths. As of Saturday, the country confirmed 2,299 cases and eight deaths.
The increasing numbers highlight how COVID-19 can spread even after initial success in containing the virus if people do not practice proper safety precautions as countries consider what the future will look like when residents emerge from local shutdowns and return to work. The country has since been put on lockdown, closing most workplaces, schools and private and public gatherings.
"We have decided that instead of tightening incrementally over the next few weeks, we should make a decisive move now, to preempt escalating infections," Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in an April 3 address. Singapore's government has also implemented punishments for violating rules that prohibit social gatherings, including jail time and fines of up to $7,000, according to Time magazine.
About 20,000 migrant workers in the country are currently in quarantine in their dormitories after officials confirmed a rising number of cases among the workers who live in close quarters. The group has seen about 90 confirmed cases as of April 6.
Tens of thousands of foreign workers have been ordered to stay in their cramped shared rooms amid fears emerging infection clusters will spread. But the move to quarantine people living in such close proximity has raised questions about whether the conditions will allow for social distancing. Tightly packed dormitories housing thousands of foreign workers have emerged as one of Singapore’s biggest challenges in its fight to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The city state reported a record 142 new infections on Wednesday, and at least 40 of those were linked to clusters at foreign worker dormitories, that house mainly low-wage workers in construction and other sectors. Those groups now account for 253 infections across nine facilities, more than 15 per cent of the country’s 1,623 cases, according to Ministry of Health data.
Authorities have moved swiftly to isolate the clusters. Two dormitories that together house almost 20,000 people were on Sunday designated by the Ministry of Manpower as “isolation areas” after new, linked virus cases emerged, while a third dormitory was gazetted the following day. Residents were ordered to stay in their shared rooms for two weeks, but would still receive wages as well as deliveries of food and other essentials.
“It is honestly a difficult situation,” said Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious diseases doctor at Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital, who drew comparisons to cruise ships like the Diamond Princess, where about 700 of its roughly 3,700 passengers were infected with Covid-19. “This is going to be a big mess.”
For Singapore, which has been championed by health officials for its methodical virus response since the outbreak began, the move to quarantine potentially exposed workers living in close proximity has raised questions about whether the conditions will allow for social distancing – one of the key strategies utilised around the world to contain the outbreak’s spread.
“To try and sort this out, they need to remain in the rooms for weeks with no interactions,” Leong said, adding that Singapore would have to also navigate language barriers and cultural differences among the workers.
Singapore’s worker dorms a ‘perfect storm’ for rising coronavirus infections: Foreigners make up about 38 per cent of Singapore’s overall workforce, including foreign domestic workers, according to government figures through the end of last year.
They have an outsize share in the construction industry, where three of every four workers are foreign, while foreigners account for about half of Singapore’s manufacturing workforce and 30 per cent in services.
A fixture in industries that depend on low-wage workers, there are more than 200,000 migrants from across Asia who live in 43 dormitories in Singapore, Minister of Manpower Josephine Teo wrote in a Facebook post on Monday, noting there was “no question” standards in dormitories should be raised. Singapore charities that support migrant workers say they have seen 10 or more people share a single room.
Singapore is providing on-site support, including food and essential supplies while preventive measures are being put in place in the workers dormitories, the spokesman wrote. The government has so far closed non-essential amenities such as gyms and libraries, prevented intermingling between blocks, and staggered meal and recreation times. It has also established basic health care facilities at two of the dormitories, while the authorities are seeking to whittle down the number of residents in affected blocks.
Singapore is not the only country with coronavirus clusters in foreign worker residences. In Malaysia, the government on Tuesday imposed an “enhanced movement control order” on two apartment facilities in Kuala Lumpur that house some 6,000 residents after 15 people tested positive for the virus, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Wednesday, adding that 97 per cent of the residents are from abroad, mostly India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
With 38 confirmed cases currently, the purpose-built workers accommodation Westlite Toh Guan was among the two facilities to be isolated in Singapore on Sunday. There, a total of 6,800 residents are spread across 687 apartment units with an average of eight to 10 occupants per room, according to emails with Centurion Corporation, which owns the buildings. The units include bathrooms, a
Like the other gazetted dormitories, residents there have received care packs consisting of masks, thermometers and hand sanitiser, and “after some initial hitches” meals are being delivered in a timely fashion, according to a government statement on Tuesday.
Ah Hlaing, a Burmese carer at a day care centre for the elderly who shares a flat at the dormitory with about 10 people, said after initially being upset over the new rules, she acknowledges they are necessary. She was “upset because we can’t go out and have to stay in the room”, Ah said, adding she has had access to the essentials including food and sanitary products. “We have to accept now that at this time, we can’t do anything.”
Some rights groups have expressed concern the government is not doing enough. “The key vulnerability, crowding, is not really being addressed with sufficient determination,” said Alex Wu, vice-president at Transient Workers Count Too, a registered charity that helps low-wage migrant workers. “Infectious diseases thrive through human proximity. In fact, requiring workers to stay in their rooms except for occasional periods will intensify contact, not reduce it.”
Fear is growing at a dormitory designated as an isolation area because of an infection cluster, with workers saying they do not have masks, and are living in unsanitary and crowded conditions. At least six workers at the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, where there are 63 confirmed cases of Covid-19, told The Straits Times that the rooms are infested with cockroaches and toilets are overflowing. Workers have to queue for food with no social distancing measures to keep them apart.
 |
| Instead of going back to their packed dorm-rooms many foreign workers sleep rough at MRT stations. |
Foreign Workers' Riots In Singapore's Little India.
Singapore Caps Muslims Number at 15% Last 50 years.
Suicide of a Burmese Maid in Singapore.
Death of a Burmese Dock-worker in Singapore.