What Singapore's coronavirus tactics can and can't teach world

China has seen success in containing the coronavirus through strict governmental oversight but when the virus made its way to Vietnam – a country with similar rule – the government enacted more transparent approaches and relied on social networks to mitigate the spread. Although it is yet to be seen if one methodology was superior to the other, Vietnam's strategy of accountability and transparency has "proved to be effective and furnished positive results."

The United States and Italy have been playing catch up in the mitigation of the coronavirus pandemic and were resistant to implementing social distancing, while other countries took more aggressive approaches. Now both countries are looking to China and South Korea to learn how sweeping actions and industrialized scaling of measures such as fever clinics, temperature check points, portable CAT scanning, and social isolation, have helped to contain the pandemic.

Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong have each shown success with slowing the pace of the coronavirus outbreak due in part from learning lessons during the 2002 SARS outbreak. Combining different approaches to social distancing and quarantine, travel restrictions, and public health campaigns focused on hygiene best practices, the countries have shown that it doesn't necessarily take "China’s draconian measures" to mitigate the spread.

Switzerland avoids a total shutdown of borders in order to keep its healthcare system functioning during the covid-19 health crisis. Healthcare workers are vital to border cities such as Geneva, which relies on cross-border workers who commute to and from the country on a daily basis. Health workers were given faster access at border crossings and other employees were encouraged to work from home after tax treaties and agreements were quickly re-written and passed to avoid workers and employers from being penalized.

Having spent a number of years combatting Ebola and Marburg viruses, officials in Uganda were able to quickly set into a motion a series of proactive strategies such as restriction of movement, surveillance strategies, and widespread testing to help contain the coronavirus outbreak. Although the approach isn't without its limitations – many are stockpiling groceries out of fear – the rapid and aggressive measures have kept the country's caseload low compared to that of other African nations.

From 1802 until 1895, Philadelphia ran a quarantine center that required all in-bound ships to stop and all on-board to be quarantined until cleared of any possible infectious diseases. Although the center is no longer in use, it provides a unique history lesson for the current coronavirus pandemic of the success that can come by restricting movement to prevent further spread.

When faced with the coronavirus pandemic, a number of countries around the world "opted for delayed containment strategies," but countries such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, which took the opposite approach, have seen more success with mitigating the spread. The governments in these countries implemented many aggressive initiatives that were aimed at widespread testing, restricted travel, and contact tracing.

Unlike the United States, South Korea has seen rapid success in slowing the spread of coronavirus by implementing widespread testing protocols and increasing transparency. Instead of government officials giving updates, public health experts report to the public while throughout the nation pop-up and drive-through testing sites allow for mass-scale testing, all offered free of charge to citizens.

Weeks before the coronavirus outbreak was declared to be a pandemic, Seoul, and other parts of South Korea set into motion a combination of "prevention and mitigation programs" that are now being touted as lessons for other countries struggling to contain the virus. Using technological advancements such as a national mobile phone alert system and mobile phone applications along with increased transparency around data collected, new reports of cases have slowed allowing the country to prepare for a potential surge later on.

Taiwan responded to COVID-19 quickly, which helped keep cases low and avoid widespread shutdowns. The country had closely tracked its PPE stockpiles since the 2003 SARS outbreak, has a national health command center to coordinate responses, and uses a well-defined set of procedures to track and manage people under infectious risk or quarantine. Masks are required and provided to every citizen, inbound travelers were quickly regulated, and contact tracing and testing is widely used to prevent outbreaks. Citizens generally listen to authorities, though fines and other sanctions also encourage compliance.