Advertisement
Explainer | Dengue fever, second wave: what are the hurdles Singapore faces in its coronavirus fight?
- Daily new infections in Singapore have fallen from April when it had the largest number of cases in Southeast Asia
- As the city state gradually reopens, it faces the risk of a second coronavirus wave, and is also coping with a simultaneous outbreak of dengue fever
Reading Time:5 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
An eight-week lockdown, rigorous testing and strict social distancing laws turned Singapore’s fortunes around from being the most infected Southeast Asian country in April with more than 1,000 infections a day, to several hundred new cases a day.
At its peak, Singapore reported 1,426 new coronavirus infections on April 20, while on Tuesday, July 20, it had 399 cases. But it is still trying to clear infections in migrant worker dormitories, while placing safeguards against the second wave hitting economies that were previously successful at combating the virus.
Six months from its first reported Covid-19 case on January 23, here’s a look at the situation in Singapore and the key challenges it faces.
Advertisement
Is Singapore’s virus situation improving?
Since April, when Singapore saw a dramatic increase of infections after the disease broke out in crowded dormitories, the number of monthly cases has been gradually stabilising.
Advertisement
Even so, the vast majority of Singapore’s cases today continue to be concentrated among low-wage foreign workers, some 300,00 of whom live in such dorms.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x