COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore

COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
(clockwise from top left) Marina Bay Sands and ArtScience Museum lit up with messages of hope Controlled entry into Compass One Tables and seats cordoned off with tape Empty shelves at a FairPrice supermarket
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Location	Singapore
First reported	Wuhan, Hubei, China
Index case	Sentosa, Southern Islands
Arrival date	23 January 2020 (4 years, 3 months, 3 weeks and 6 days)
Confirmed cases	3,006,155[1]
Recovered	2,516,440 (updated 23 July 2023) [2]
Deaths	2,024[1]
Fatality rate	0.07%
Vaccinations	83%[3] (minimum protection) 46%[3] (up-to-date vaccination)
Government website
www.moh.gov.sg/COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first case in Singapore was confirmed on 23 January 2020. Early cases were primarily imported until local transmission began to develop in February and March. In late March and April, COVID-19 clusters were detected at multiple migrant worker dormitories, which soon contributed to an overwhelming proportion of new cases in the country.

To stem the tide of infections, strict circuit breaker lockdown measures were implemented from 7 April to 1 June 2020, after which restrictions have been gradually lifted as conditions permitted.^[4] A mass vaccination campaign was launched, and has been successful in achieving a very high vaccination rate, with more than 96% of the eligible populace having completed their vaccination regimen as of June 2022.^[5][6] Various measures have been taken to mass test the population for the virus and isolate infected people. Contact tracing measures SafeEntry and TraceTogether were implemented to identify and quarantine close contacts of positive cases.

The last record of COVID-19 cases was on 4 June 2023, which was at 2,481,404 confirmed cases, 2,456,295 recoveries and 1,727 deaths,^[7] with a case fatality rate of 0.08%, one of the lowest in the world.^[8] It introduced what was considered one of the world's largest and best-organised epidemic control programmes.^[9][10]

Government response[edit]

In response to the emerging threat, a committee known as the "Multi-Ministry Task Force" (often shortened to MMTF) was formed on 22 January 2020, comprising Minister for Education Lawrence Wong, Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong as co-chairs, along with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat as advisors. On 23 April 2021 in a cabinet reshuffle, Lee announced the appointment of Ong Ye Kung as the new Minister for Health, who would serve in the committee as co-chair alongside the other incumbents.^[12][13] Singapore had also contributed US$500,000 to support the World Health Organization's (WHO) efforts against COVID-19.^[14]

Circuit breaker measures and gradual re-opening[edit]

In response to the first wave of COVID-19, Singapore enacted the "COVID-19 Control Order", announcing on 3 April 2020 a stringent set of preventive measures collectively called the "circuit breaker lockdown". Initially planned to be applied from 7 April to 4 May, the circuit breaker lockdown was extended to 1 June on 21 April following continued untraced transmission within the community. The Multi-Ministry Taskforce on 19 May announced the three-phased approach to resume activities safely with the gradual re-opening of economic activities in each phase.^[4]

Phase 1 lasted for 17 days from 2 June and ended on 18 June, with Phase 2 lasting for 6 months and 8 days from 19 June to 27 December. Singapore was in Phase 3 from 28 December 2020 until 7 May 2021;^[15] following the rise of the Delta variant, it temporarily reverted to Phase 2 on 8 May,^[16] which was raised to "Phase 2 Heightened Alert" from 16 May to 13 June, "Phase 3 Heightened Alert" from 14 June to 21 July and "Phase 2 Heightened Alert" from 22 July 2021 to 9 August 2021. This was followed by "Preparatory Stage of Transition" from 10 August 2021 to 26 September 2021, reverting to Phase 2 Heightened Alert measures (dubbed the "Stabilisation Phase") from 27 September to 21 November 2021,^[17][18][19] after which it entered the "Transition Phase" from 22 November 2021 to 25 April 2022, followed by the "COVID-19 Resilient Nation/Acute Phase" from 26 April 2022 to 12 February 2023.^[20][21]

As of 13 February 2023, Singapore is currently in the "Endemic Phase", with the vast majority of COVID-19 restrictions lifted.^[22][23]

Contact tracing technologies[edit]

Technological solutions to facilitate contact tracing efforts were rapidly developed and deployed by the government. SafeEntry, a check-in system that logs the entry and exit of visitors to public places, was first introduced at selected wet markets on 24 April 2020^[24] and subsequently expanded to include a wide range of venues in May.^[25] It was later augmented by compulsory use of TraceTogether,^[26] a system originally launched on 20 March 2020^[27] that uses Bluetooth signal strengths to track the proximity and duration of encounters between people with a smartphone app or physical token.^[28] With the relaxation of most countermeasures on 26 April 2022, both systems were phased out except in the case of large events with 500 participants, food and beverages outlets, and nightlife entertainment establishments with dancing facilities.^[29] On 9 February 2023, it was announced that the use of TraceTogether and SafeEntry would be discontinued from 13 February.^[30]

Vaccination campaign[edit]

A mass vaccination programme is currently under way following the approval and acquisition of the Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines;^[31][32] in late 2021, Singapore became the world's most-vaccinated country, with more than 85% of its total population fully-vaccinated.^[5] As of June 2022, over 92% of the total population have completed their vaccination regimen, representing over 96% of the eligible populace.^[6]

Epidemiology[edit]