Singapore, Praised For Its Initial Coronavirus Response, Closes Schools And Offices To Prevent Second Wave Of Infections

Topline: Singapore had won praise from the World Health Organization for its early response to coronavirus without the need for enforced lockdowns. Today, the city-state has announced it is closing all schools and non-essential workplaces to curb the rise of a second wave of the pandemic.

• Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced on Friday: “We have decided that instead of tightening incrementally over the next few weeks, we should make a decisive move now, to pre-empt escalating infections.” The restrictions are from April 7 to May 4.
• The “circuit breaker” measures are not as strict as lockdowns activated in Italy, Spain, the U.K. and China. While schools, gyms, museums, casinos and workplaces are closed, grocery stores and clinics will stay open, as well as transport and banking services.
• Schooling will move to online learning, while Lee encouraged people to only go out for essential trips, Reuters reports.
• The measures are the strictest yet to be imposed in the financial hub, which has until now managed to avoid activating sweeping lockdowns. But it comes as new confirmed infections jumped to 1,114.
• On top of already announced financial support measures, Singapore is set to roll out more support packages for families and firms in the coming days, as it faces its worst recession yet thanks to the pandemic.
• Singapore’s government will hand out facemasks to all households this weekend, in a turnaround on its previous stance that only ill people needed to wear protective equipment.

Crucial comment: Lee said on Friday: “Looking at the trend, I am worried that unless we take further steps, things will gradually get worse or another big cluster may push things over the edge.”

In numbers: More than 1 million people have now been infected with COVID-19 to date, since the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, in late December, data from Johns Hopkins University shows. The death toll globally is approaching 55,000.

Key background: Singapore’s government won praise from the World Health Organization for its early response to mitigating the spread of the disease in the hub by identifying cases early on, and ensuring that treatment related to COVID-19 would be free. As a result, it has largely managed to avoid explosive outbreaks seen in other parts of the world that responded much slower at the onset. But the latest action has been prompted as the number of new cases have been accelerating since mid-March.