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Few countries share Singapore’s unique combina-
tion of single-party dominance, tight social controls
and deep financial resources. Breaches of its corona-
virus protocols have led to a permanent resident’s
losing his status. But some suggest the city-state’s
effective response has more to do with transparency,
comprehensive testing and quick isolation practices.
“Many have been praising authoritarian responses
based on control and coercion, and yet I think what
we are seeing is that good public health using mod-
ern tools [is] more important,” says Matt Kavanagh,
director of Georgetown University’s Global Health
Policy and Governance Initiative.
There is also little need for strict enforcement
when SARS-scarred populations readily practice
social distancing, scrupulous hygiene and other pro-
tective measures. In Hong Kong, a city that suffered
more than a third of the global SARS fatalities, fa-
miliar reflexes have snapped back into action. On
the streets, people keep their distance. No one shakes
hands. Many stay in their apartments for days at a
time. Schools are closed, events canceled. “Everyone
knows it’s their responsibility to help stop the virus
from spreading,” says Amy Ho, a 46-year-old Hong
Konger. The measures appear to be working. Perched
just across the border from the mainland’s health cri-
sis, Hong Kong had just 162 cases as of March 17.
Neighboring Guangdong province recorded 1,364.
Experts stress governments must have a sound
strategy to communicate to the public. After Sin-
gapore raised its outbreak alert to orange, one level
below the maximum, on Feb. 7, residents emp-
tied super market shelves. To quell the anxiety,
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressed the nation
in three of its four official languages. “I want to speak
to you directly, to explain where we are and what may
lie ahead,” he said. Supermarket lines soon eased.
In the U.S., by contrast, President Donald Trump
has contradicted government scientists while trying
to downplay the threat, and falsely suggested the im-
minent availability of a vaccine. “To be honest, as a
public-health professional, I am deeply concerned
about the U.S.,” says Lim, in Singapore. “It’s become
politicized, making it difficult for the average citizen
to know who to trust or what to believe.”
Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan have also digi-
tized data to improve transparency. Each new case
is posted to government websites with information
like the patient’s age, gender, travel history and, in
Hong Kong’s case, apartment building, to encourage
anyone possibly in contact to come forward. In all
three places, tests and government quarantine sites
for those who can’t stay at home are provided at zero
or nominal cost.
None of them offers a uniform nationwide virus-
fighting blueprint, being more the size of a U.S. city
or state. But there are crucial takeaways. David Hui,
director of the Stanley Ho Center for Emerging In-
fectious Diseases at the Chinese University of Hong
Kong, says it’s vital that countries limit social contact.
Schools need to shut and mass gatherings need to be
canceled, as has happened in other parts of Asia as
well as Europe and, more and more, the U.S.
“It’s clear that where people are more cautious
we see a relatively lower number of cases,” Hui says.
“The facts speak for themselves.” □^
A nearly deserted
Hong Kong
International
Airport on March 17