Coronavirus: why so few deaths among Singapore’s 14,000 Covid-19 infections?

The tiny Lion City now has more infections than any other Southeast Asian nation, yet its death rate is just a fraction of that of its neighbours

Experts say this is because migrant workers, who account for most cases, tend to be young, while older, more vulnerable residents have heeded advice

Reading Time:4 minutes

A woman has her hands sanitised while buying groceries amid the coronavirus outbreak in Singapore. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:00pm, 27 Apr 2020Updated: 10:01am, 28 Apr 2020

With more than 14,000 coronavirus infections, Singapore now has more cases than any other country in Southeast Asia and is the most infected Asian nation after China and India. Indeed, since April 1, its number of infections has risen 13-fold. But one statistic remains persistently low: its death rate.

Since reporting its first infection on January 23, Singapore had by Monday reported only 12 deaths. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that makes Singapore a success story as the main aim of public health measures is to save lives.

Singapore has 0.85 deaths per 1,000 infections. That compares to 17 per 1,000 in neighbouring Malaysia and 84 per 1,000 in Indonesia. Globally, the average is about 70 deaths per 1,000 infections. Belgium’s death rate is the highest at almost 153 per 1,000, while the United States and China have about 56 deaths per 1,000 infections.

The number of deaths in Singapore is also far below the 1,305 deaths recorded in Mexico and 372 in Japan, both of which have similar numbers of infections despite having far larger populations – Singapore has about 5.7 million residents, while Japan and Mexico both have about 126 million.

Health experts cite a combination of factors for this.

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Coronavirus: why so few deaths among Singapore’s 14,000 Covid-19 infections?

The tiny Lion City now has more infections than any other Southeast Asian nation, yet its death rate is just a fraction of that of its neighbours Experts say this is because migrant workers, who account for most cases, tend to be young, while older, more vulnerable residents have heeded advice

The tiny Lion City now has more infections than any other Southeast Asian nation, yet its death rate is just a fraction of that of its neighbours

Experts say this is because migrant workers, who account for most cases, tend to be young, while older, more vulnerable residents have heeded advice