Singapore’s coronavirus blindspot
From our UK edition
Singapore has been praised around the world for its coronavirus response. Early on, the city-state closed its borders and began tracking its citizens. It paid the hospital bills of people with suspected Covid-19, and made early moves to address the economic fallout of the disease, with a £2.3bn (S$4bn) Stabilisation and Support package for struggling businesses and workers. Yet despite these initial successes, the government’s blind spot when it comes to Singapore’s 1.4 million migrant workers has recently caused case numbers to spiral – increasing fivefold in just over two weeks. As a result, Singapore has been forced to extend its lockdown by an additional month.
