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Comment by namanaggarwal | Hacker News Reader

We should really applaud Singapore Govt. here. I don't think any other place has handled the situation so well and so transparent.

P.S I live in Singapore. Ask me anything

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Taiwan also has been rather efficient and transparent in how they handled the situation. And the results speak for themselves for a country with so many economic ties to China...

It so happens that, because of the recent political situation, mainland China suspended individual trips (not groups) to Taiwan last year.

Probably quite a silver lining there.

Edit: Got it the wrong way round: individuals, not groups.

The PRC didn’t suspend tourist groups. They stopped allowing PRC passport holders to get individual tourist visas to go on holiday in Taiwan. A family I know were in Taiwan as part of a tour group when news of the virus broke.

It was 34C in Singapore today (About 93F). No doubt the government response has been proactive, but you'd think the weather might be a factor in successful containment of the infection?

Yes weather could be a factor, but given the high population density of Singapore, I would attribute the success to the Govt.

Note that there have been more than 100 cases now with no deaths.

Some of the less known measures that Govt. took

* Encouraging companies to plan Business continuity plans

* Govt. Whatsapp group provides accurate information, preventing spread of fake news

* Govt gave each household masks just to stop the panic

* Free healthcare for all suffering from coronavirus

Being one city helps too. Harder to have underserviced areas.

Another one from Singapore. I agree that the official reaction seems well handled!

(Not that there wasn't a slight panic and crazy hoarding stories and there certainly are flaws in company/building management policies, but .. that's not to blame on the government)

Agreed. A lot of SEA countries been handling it pretty well(with the exception of Indonesia). I'm from Malaysia and even though there's been a huge political storm recently, we still have the highest recovery rate among all fo the countries that are suffering.

I gotta say Singapore is killing it with all his tech when it comes to corona. Majulah!

What are the main take aways for your countries actions that help its success? I believe Vietnam has also been doing a lot of effective action sofar.

Transparency is the key take away. Official government whatsapp notifications helped curb fake news. The information was readily available. Ministers and other senior health officials was on the news, providing accurate information.

The contact tracing and isolation was near perfect. Strict measures were taken for people who disobeyed orders and put people in danger.

Curious..what has vietnam been doing?

Basically sameish strategy as Singapore , including lockdowns of area’s / schools when necessary. They’ve been vigilant since the initial outbreak.

Got any spare toilet paper, mate? :P

(Context: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-03/loo-roll-limit-costco...)

Japan for instance has 20 times more people than Singapore, but only 3 times more cases. Epidemic started at the same time in both countries. Not saying that Singapore isn't doing a good job, but are they really doing much better than other countries?

Again not to undermine the efforts by Japan, but the way they handled the Diamond Princess was not up to the mark.

Because of their mis-management a lot of people contracted the Virus.

It should be noted that all schools in Singapore are open along with all work places

I live there, too. I concur.

> I don't think any other place has handled the situation so well

Can't really fault the extensive and sweeping measures China has taken, and the compliance and efforts of the Chinese people.

Singapore is somewhat similar with strict measures and people complying for the greater good.

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