Corona Virus: The Situation in Singapore vs. China Report 2022

Running head: CORONA VIRUS: THE SITUATION IN SINGAPORE VS. CHINA 1
Corona Virus: The Situation in Singapore vs. China
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CORONA VIRUS: THE SITUATION IN SINGAPORE VS. CHINA 2
Corona Virus: The Situation in Singapore vs. China
The global outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has brought the world to
standstill as scientists and researchers work to find its cure. The World Health Organization
(WHO) declared COVID-19 on 11th January 2020 declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. This
paper reports on the origin of COVID-19, fatality rate, transmission factors, symptoms, and
treatment. It ends with a comparison of the situation in Singapore to China and discusses
challenges and preventive measures that the two countries have undertaken in stopping the
spread.
The origin of (COVID-19)
Coronavirus belongs to the family of viruses that cause symptoms such as pneumonia,
breathing difficulties, fever, and respiratory infections (WHO, 2020). The origin of the virus is
China and is linked to the market of seafood in Wuhan city. According to WHO (2020), the virus
may have spread from seafood to humans. Bats are the best candidates responsible for the spread
of the virus to human beings (Hallewell, Abbott, & Russell 2020). Nevertheless, these are mere
theories that explain the origin of the virus.
Fatality Rate
The fatality rate of COVID-19 disease is relatively low compared to the rate of
infections. According to Adhikari and Meng (2020), fatality rate is computed by dividing the
number of deaths with that of infected, but it is not easy to establish the fatality rate at the global
level due to variations in number of infections and deaths that are reported in real-time.
Nevertheless, fatality rate has been found to be higher among people with chronic conditions and
the aging populations above sixty years compared to other populations (Qu, Li, Hu, & Jiang,
2020).

CORONA VIRUS: THE SITUATION IN SINGAPORE VS. CHINA 3
Transmission factors
The human-to-human transmission factors of COVID-19 disease include coughing,
sneezing, close contact with people who have been infected with the virus, or hugging and
kissing. Inanimate transmission occurs when people touch infected surfaces and objects or inhale
contaminated air and fumes (WHO, 2020). The disease is said to transmit fast in highly
populated areas and this is the reason why scientists have recommended social distancing as a
means of curbing its spread.
Symptoms and Treatment procedures
The World Health Organization (2020) has documented common symptoms of COVID-19
which include escalated body temperatures, difficulties in breathing, sneezing, coughing, and
sore throat as the main symptoms of COVID-19. Currently there are no known treatment
procedures, even though many people have been known to recover from the disease.
COVID-19 in Singapore vs. China
The novel Coronavirus started in China in December 2019 and has so far claimed more
than four thousand lives with more than eighty thousand infections as of 20th April 2020. China
has a higher death toll compared to Singapore which has 8014 cases and eleven deaths WHO
(2020). According to Cascellam, Rajnik and Cuomo (2020), Singapore’s decrease in reported
cases and deaths has been linked to effective interventions to stop the spread.
Singapore and China’s Response to COVID-19
Both countries made significant moves to stop the spread of this disease. According to
Gan (2020), China announced locked down Wuhan on 23rd January, a month after the first case.
Singapore declared first partial lockdown from 7th April to 4th May 2020, report of the first case

CORONA VIRUS: THE SITUATION IN SINGAPORE VS. CHINA 4
embarked on massive screenings, testing, and quarantine of suspected cases (Singapore
Government, 2020). This led to a higher prevention of the spread compared to China.
Based on this analysis, one can conclude that Singapore made better measures to stop the
spread of COVID-19 compared to China. China failed to contain the spread of the virus, but
Singapore took aggressive measures that have reduced the rate of infections. China could have
prevented this disease from becoming a global pandemic.

CORONA VIRUS: THE SITUATION IN SINGAPORE VS. CHINA 5
References
Adhikari, P. & Meng, S.(2020). Epidemiology, causes, clinical manifestation and diagnosis,
prevention and control of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during the early outbreak
period: a scoping review. Infectious Diseases of Poverty, 2(3). Retrieved from
https://idpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40249-020-00646-x
Cascella M., Rajnik M., & Cuomo A., (2020). Features, evaluation and treatment coronavirus
(COVID-19). NCBI. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554776/
Gan, N. (2020 March 20). China to lift lockdown on Wuhan, ground zero of coronavirus
pandemic. CNN. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/24/asia/coronavirus-
wuhan-lockdown-lifted-intl-hnk/index.html
Hallewell, J., Abbott, S., & Russell, W., T. (2020). Feasibility of controlling COVID-19
outbreaks by isolation of cases and contacts. The Lancet Global Health, 2. Retrieved
from https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(20)30074-7/
fulltext
Qu, G., Li, X., Hu, L., & Jiang, G. (2020). An imperative need for research on the role of
environmental factors in transmission of novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Environmental
Science & Technology, 54(7), 3730–3732. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c01102
Singapore Government (2020). Stay home for Singapore from 7 April to 4th May. Retrieved from
https://www.gov.sg/article/stay-home-for-singapore-from-7-april-to-4-may
World Health Organization (2020). Coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/blueprint/priority-diseases/key-action/novel-coronavirus/en/