As the coronavirus spreads ever further, it's clear some strategies are more likely to contain it: pro-active efforts to track down and isolate cases, access to basic, affordable public health care and clear, reassuring messaging from leaders.
In this March 14, 2020, photo, a security personnel views a thermal screening monitor as visitors enter Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. As the virus outbreak spreads ever further, it's becoming clear that some strategies are more likely to succeed in containing it: pro-active efforts to track down and isolate cases, access to basic, affordable public health and clear, reassuring messaging from leaders.
Since testing rates vary widely, it’s hard to know for sure. But Singapore appears to be among the handful of places that tick all those boxes, though recent spikes in new cases show that any lapses can have dire consequences. Of the 13 cases found in the tiny gambling enclave of Macao, 10 have recovered. Casinos have been closed for weeks to battle the outbreak.
For Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong, the experience of battling the 2003 SARS outbreak, which infected some 8,000 people and killed nearly 800, helped ensure residents took the risks seriously, experts say. When the number of local cases without links to previous cases or travel in China surged, the government raised its alert to “orange,” the second-highest level, on Feb. 7. The Singapore Air Show, a huge event that draws thousands, scaled back the number of participants and barred most exhibitors and visitors from China from attending. Good hygiene and avoiding handshakes were recommended.
It has mostly worked. But newly confirmed clusters show one dinner, one boxing match or one religious gathering can undo weeks of work.
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