Wired: Singapore Was Ready for Covid-19—Other Countries, Take Note

By | March 17, 2020

After SARS and H1N1, Singapore built a robust system for tracking and containing epidemics. South Korea, Taiwan, and others did too—here’s what they learned.

Singapore Was Ready for Covid-19-Other Countries, Take Note

Taiwan actually combined its national health care and immigration databases to generate automated alerts based on travelers’ potential for being infected. On January 20, when China had reported only a few cases of the disease, Taiwan spun up a Central Epidemic Command Center-created after SARS-to coordinate the national effort.


” Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea all share the characteristic of using their experiences with prior outbreaks to build a system—and then sustaining it. None of them had to deal with the fear of being a first-mover, of being the first city or country to institute seemingly severe countermeasures. Their countermeasures were already in place, waiting to be reactivated. “

The 4 Asian Tigers had managed the outbreak particularly well, however, the same cannot be said for the rest of South East Asia.

Cover Photo: NICKY LOH/GETTY IMAGES

    Posted in Internal Affairs