Impact of Disasters and Disaster Risk Management in Singapore: A Case Study of Singapore’s Experience in Fighting the SARS Epidemic

Lai, Allen Yu-Hung; Tan, Seng Ghee

doi:10.1007/978-4-431-55022-8_15

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Nevertheless, the outbreak had longer-term economic repercussions in Singapore, particularly for the tourism industry. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) reduced its GDP growth forecast from 3% to 0.5% after the initial outbreak of SARS [ 40 , 55 ]. In addition, the unemployment rate reached a peak of 4.8% (higher than during the 2007–2009 Global Financial Crisis) for a few months after the end of the SARS outbreak in September 2003 [ 68 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving toward a common goal via cross-sector collaboration: lessons learned from SARS to COVID-19 in Singapore

2022

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Background The spread of COVID-19 has taken a toll on many countries and its healthcare system over the last two years. Governments have sought to mitigate the repercussions of the pandemic by implementing aggressive top-down control measures and introducing immense fiscal spending. Singapore is no exception to this trend. Owing to a whole-of-society approach, Singapore is still being lauded globally for its relatively successful record at controlling both community and trans-border spread. One notable effort by the Singapore government has taken place through its cross-sectoral collaborative partnerships with the private stakeholders behind the success. Methods/results In an attempt to better explain Singapore’s robust yet strategic response to COVID-19, this study focuses on how the experience of the SARS outbreak has informed the government’s collaborative efforts with other stakeholders in society, beyond mere transnational cooperation. Taking a comparative case study approach in the specific context of Singapore, we perform a content analysis of related government documents, mainstream newspaper articles, and academic journal articles in an inductive manner. By closely comparing two global healthcare outbreaks, we note four differences in approach. First, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore has focused on securing sufficient essential healthcare resources with contingency plans to strengthen preparedness. Second, the government has actively harnessed the capacity of private entities to promote the resilience of the healthcare system and the community. Third, Singapore’s management policies have been made not only in a top-down, centralized style during the initial response stage, but also with a greater proportion of bottom-up approaches, particularly as the pandemic trudges on. More interestingly, the multi-faceted repercussions of COVID-19 have gradually opened the door to a greater variety of collaborative partnerships in sectors beyond healthcare services. The participating stakeholders include, but are not limited to, local and international business actors, non-profit organizations, academia and other countries. Lastly, as the pandemic has continued, the Singapore government has managed outward to tap the expertise and knowledge of the private sector, in particular leveraging science and technology to improve control measures and putting supportive programs into practice. Conclusion The evidence from our focused analyses demonstrates that the nature and scale of the COVID-19 pandemic produced more collaborative partnerships between the public and private sectors in Singapore as compared with the SARS outbreak. What is more, our findings offer evidence that through adaptive learning from the prior global healthcare outbreak, plus some trial and error during the initial phase of the ongoing pandemic, public- and private-sector partners, both in and outside of the healthcare service sector, have tended to “act alike,” working together to achieve a common goal. Both have been socially responsible, providing public services to people in need to promote the rapid resilience of the community, and sharing the associated risks. Overall, this study has deep and wide implications for other governments and policy makers who are still struggling to maximize essential resources and minimize the negative impacts of the healthcare crisis.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving toward a common goal via cross-sector collaboration: lessons learned from SARS to COVID-19 in Singapore

2022

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“…Ever since it was used until the 2009 influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic (Tognotti, 2013). Ever since 2009, besides quarantine and isolation, social distancing measures were used for pandemic influenza since initial action to reduce the spreading of the disease (Rashid et.al., 2014) (New Zealand Ministry of Health, 2008) (Lai and Tan, 2012). Under current publication, in relation to handling COVID-19 pandemic, quarantine, isolation and social distancing were recommended to mitigate the spreading of the disease (Wilder-Smith and Freedman, 2020) (Mahtani, et,al., 2020) (Chang et.al., 2020) (Social Science in Humanitarian Action, 2020).…”

Section: Results and Disscusion Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 Pandemic and Law No. 6 Year 2018 regarding Health Quarantine

Widjaja

2020

J INDO HEALTH POLICY ADM

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Abstract. By late March, to anticipate the spreading of COVID-19 pandemic, the President of the Republic of Indonesia has issued several regulations. The Author has examined that the main laws that were used as the based for the issuance of those regulations are Law No.6 Year 2018 regarding Health Quarantine (the Health Quarantine Law). Therefore in order to handle COVID-19 pandemic, an understanding of the Law become a must. The aim of this research is to elaborate and explain the Health Quarantine Law to reduce the COVID-19 pandemic. This research is normative legal research. The research used secondary data, which consisted of primary legal sources and secondary legal sources. Data were collected through the "google scholar machine". Data obtained were analyzed using a qualitative approach. Findings and analysis proved that besides those newly issued regulations there were several measures and acts that should be taken to handle the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. The Author suggests that the Central Government shall take the necessary steps as soon as possible.

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“…between the countries of Southeast Asia, and can strain or even threaten diplomatic relations between countries (Forsyth, 2014). Smoke haze carries particulate matter that can increase acute health issues such as asthma, pulmonary infection, and eye and skin irritation, as well as other health impacts (Lai and Tan, 2015). The presence of haze particulates also limits visibility, which can result in restricted land, air, and marine transportation (Heil and Goldammer, 2001).…”

Section: Haze In Southeast Asiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling Downward Counterfactual Events: Unrealized Disasters and why they Matter

et al. 2020

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Disaster risk research's reliance on past events has proved inadequate when it comes to extreme events. This shortcoming stems from limited records (for example, due to the vast differences in timescales between geological processes and human records) and the dynamic nature of all three components of risk-drivers of change in hazard (e.g., climate change), exposure (e.g., urban growth), and vulnerability (e.g., aging infrastructure). This paper provides a framework for modeling key unrealized events through downward counterfactual changes for consideration in future risk modeling and assessment. Past disasters are typically viewed as fixed events, and the resulting lessons-learned are inherently limited by this definition; downward counterfactual thought provides a means to harvest additional insights and capture a larger consequence space. As such, we have identified a need for a guiding framework in order to incorporate downward counterfactual thought in the context of disaster risk modeling applied to both natural and anthropogenic hazards. The downward counterfactual framework relies first on identifying a past event, which may or may not have been considered a major disaster. After an event has been identified, historical parameters from the past event are relaxed in order to identify small changes that result in downward, worsening consequences. This can be continued for multiple changes until an end-of-search criteria is reached. The framework is especially relevant for regions that may have a sparse past catalog, either due to limited data or limited occurrences of natural hazards. As such, the framework is demonstrated in the context of Singapore, a city-nation that has historically had limited recorded natural hazards events, through five case studies on past anthropogenic, environmental, seismic, volcanic, and storm hazard events. This framework can help harness lessonslearned from unrealized disasters to support a more resilient future through informed policies and plans.

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Impact of Disasters and Disaster Risk Management in Singapore: A Case Study of Singapore’s Experience in Fighting the SARS Epidemic

Cited by 15 publications

References 25 publications

Moving toward a common goal via cross-sector collaboration: lessons learned from SARS to COVID-19 in Singapore

Moving toward a common goal via cross-sector collaboration: lessons learned from SARS to COVID-19 in Singapore

COVID-19 Pandemic and Law No. 6 Year 2018 regarding Health Quarantine

Modeling Downward Counterfactual Events: Unrealized Disasters and why they Matter

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