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As the Covid-19 pandemic sweeps the world, some countries are doing better than others. Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and as late as March, Singapore, had been hailed for using the lessons learned from the 2003-04 SARS outbreak to combat the new virus, a relative of SARS.
For Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong, the story may well have been one of immense tragedy, the timing was bad. The virus emerged just before Chinese New Year, when millions of people make home visits across the region in the world’s largest annual human migration. All three territories are closely interconnected with mainland China, where the outbreak began, and all 3 began taking aggressive measures to contain the spread.
But things are different now. Singapore’s confirmed cases have surpassed 10,000 from just 1,000 earlier this month and as of this morning stood at 11,178 and rising, the highest number in Southeast Asia. The state of the city publishes regularly more than 1000 new cases per day, the vast majority among its roughly 320,000 migrant workers living in overcrowded conditions. Almost 80% of new infections are related to migrant workers living in 43 mega-dormitories across the country.
Singapore was praised by the World Health Organization for its swift action to crack down on infections, but the crisis has highlighted how it treats marginalized migrants.
PHOTO: Asia Times
On Tuesday this week, Singapore said it would halt the daily movements of workers in and out of all dormitories, including those that are purpose-built, factory-owned or temporary rooms for construction workers. The essential services workers, who tested negative, have been transferred to other accommodations. The rest will remain in virtual concentration camps, where the risk of infection has been assessed as “extremely high.”
GRAPHIC: Worldometers.info
The pandemic exposes huge inequality in Singapore, which relies heavily on a workforce of around a million migrant workers to build the country’s gleaming skyscrapers and clean up its sprawling shopping malls. Most of the migrant workers come from Bangladesh, India and other South Asian countries in hopes of sending money home. Their lifestyles are in stark contrast to the country’s wealthy elites and financial workers and they live in separate communities and remote villages, far from tourist areas and busy shopping centers.
A video report of the BBC.
SOURCES: BBC | Technology review | Bangkok daily | The Guardian
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