Singapore’s Response to COVID-19 and Its Impacts on Singapore-China Relations

Ji, Xianbai

Millions of confirmed cases were reported in almost all major countries and territories ever since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in the early 2020. The tropical city-state of Singapore is among the worst hit countries in the world in terms of the number of confirmed cases per million inhabitants (approximately 8000 as of 10 July 2020) though fatality rate (below 0.1%) was low by international standards. Initially, the development of the coronavirus pandemic in Singapore had a slow start. The government stayed on top of the situation, handling a limited pool of imported and domestically transmitted cases with relative ease. The progression of the pandemic took a sudden turn for the worse in late March and early April 2020 when the highly infectious disease spread intensely among foreign migrant workers, a sizeable occupational group living in close proximity in purpose-built/factory-converted dormitories on the outskirt of Singapore or temporary quarters at construction sites.