Opinion | Why Singapore’s coronavirus response worked – and what we can all learn
- It’s really about leadership being organised enough to get the messaging right. People will feel more comfortable and are more likely to follow the rules
- In Singapore, we want life to go on as normal. We want businesses, churches, restaurants and schools to stay open. This is what success looks like
The first thing that helped with its response was it was ready before the outbreak even occurred because of the Sars outbreak of 2002-03.
It was aware then that its infrastructure wasn’t ready for an outbreak of this kind. So, in the years since, isolation hospitals were built, more negative pressure rooms were created and legislation was put in place.
Then, on December 31, when the world first became aware of coronavirus in China, Singapore started to get prepared. By the time the World Health Organisation declared a public health emergency at the end of January, it was ready.
In February, Singapore made it clear again this virus had the potential to have major health, social and economic consequences. We knew that because we saw what happened in China. The virus brought a country of 1.4 billion people basically to its knees.
The rest of Asia was clearly frightened and scampering to get ready, too – Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea. There was no confusion in the minds of these countries what this virus could do.
Yet, still other parts of the world weren’t preparing.
