More than one year on, the COVID-19 pandemic is still wreaking havoc on societies worldwide. This can be seen in the increase in cases in Malaysia and Indonesia after the recent Eid celebrations, where there were mass movements of people going to their hometowns. Indonesia saw its record number of daily cases of more than 20,000 - a year after the pandemic hit.
The difficulties faced by Indonesia and Malaysia are in stark contrast compared to the "Four Asian Tigers," - Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea - where the rate of transmission has been relatively low. Taiwan, for instance, had largely kept daily case counts to single digits until a recent surge.
The success in these places can be attributed to quick government responses. Public policies and regulations are put in place to curb the spread of the virus and protect public healthcare capacities. On 25 June 2021, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy held a panel discussion titled "COVID-19: Tracking East Asia's Response in Year One" to discuss how these governments have managed the first year of the pandemic.
The event featured speakers Professor Donald Low from the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Associate Professor Alfred Wu from LKYSPP, and a team of researchers from LKYSPP's Social Inclusion Project - Ms. Wong Yee Lok, Ms. Kim Soyoung, and Mr. Mohnish Kedia. The session also saw the launch of a publicly accessible online policy tracker, known as COVID-19 Policy Response in East Asia, which compares the timing and content of COVID-19 policies in the four places alongside key case metrics. The tracker was developed by the Social Inclusion Project, a new research unit that examines the role of public policies in promoting open, diverse and inclusive societies.
COVID-19 Policy Response in East Asia
The COVID-19 response of the four Asian Tigers
Three particular policies were highlighted during the panel discussion: school closures, mandated mask-wearing, and lockdowns. These policies were implemented early in the pandemic while the number of cases was still fairly low. "We took a containment approach as opposed to a mitigatory one," Prof Low explained.
When it came to schooling, Ms. Wong found that Singapore and Hong Kong have taken different approaches in their adoption of face-to-face, blended, and full online learning. But in both places, the governments made use of school vacations to create breaks in schooling and keep students at home. According to Ms Wong, "school closures must take place due to health considerations, but educational considerations need to be taken into account as well." She observed that schools in both countries adapted well to this situation - giving support and resources for teachers and students to embrace blended or online learning.
"However, the benefits of school closures have to be balanced against the adverse effects that often target disadvantaged groups, such as lower-income families, children with special needs or chronic disease, and overcrowding home environments," she added.
Meanwhile, these four economies opted for strong government intervention to ensure mask supply and distribution with different policy variations. Taiwan and South Korea chose a rationing approach to mask distribution, whereas Hong Kong and Singapore chose home delivery or vending machines to dispense disposable or reusable masks. "In Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, people had started to wear masks even before the legal mandate took effect," highlighted Ms. Kim. She added that Taiwan was so successful at expanding their mask production capacities that they were able to use masks in their international diplomacy through the "Taiwan Can Help" campaign.
With regards to lockdown measures, these four economies had different approaches. Taiwan adopted a low frequency and low coverage approach, meaning fewer periods of closures and less stringent measures. Singapore adopted a high coverage and low frequency approach, with strict measures announced sparingly. South Korea and Hong Kong both adopted introduced frequent incremental restrictions that amounted to a fairly stringent regime.
"The success of Taiwan's low coverage and low frequency approach is due to its early move to introduce interventions such as making testing kits and masks widely available, and enhancing reporting and screening," said Mr Kedia.
The high ranking of these economies in the Human Development Index suggested that these economies could be well-equipped to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, as noted by Prof. Wu. "Ranking high in the Human Development Index means that these economies have the resources and capabilities to deal with the pandemic swiftly."
Vaccination to the rescue?
"We're currently in a COVID purgatory state, where we're not in COVID hell, but we're not free either. There are still COVID measures or restrictions. One example is the limitations on travel," said Prof. Low. He also pointed out that vaccination rollouts are the right step towards a post-pandemic future, where everything will enter a state of 'new normal' as COVID-19 becomes endemic in populations.
He singled out Singapore as an example: "Singapore has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world - 40% of the population is fully vaccinated. In doing so, the government has put out a roadmap of what living alongside the virus will look like." This is in contrast to Hong Kong, which is lagging with 20% of the population fully vaccinated. This is due to the hesitancy of people to get vaccinated - stemming from the mistrust in the government, which in turn dates back to the SARS pandemic in 2003.
"Even the medical professionals blamed the government for mishandling the SARS pandemic," Prof. Low recalled. For this reason, he said that Singapore would be leading the charge in recovery and getting back to business as usual. This pandemic should also be a catalyst for thinking about climate change and sustainability practices.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that these economies have put in place new digitisation initiatives. In South Korea, for instance, there have been new laws, namely the Green New Deal and the Digital New Deal. The Green New Deal refers to environmentally friendly and sustainable practices, whereas the Digital New Deal encompasses the movement to digitise the economy and help businesses to adapt to technological changes. In Singapore, travellers are now able to use digital vaccine reports when passing through Changi Airport.
While it's true that many countries have been looking to China for guidance during this pandemic, some are starting to adapt their responses to local needs. As Prof. Wu explained: "At the beginning, it's good that countries were looking at China as they had successfully contained the spread of the virus. But, as time went on, economies like the Four Asian Tigers customised their own effective responses. It's not wise to follow China completely since each jurisdiction has different needs and circumstances."
Access the Social Inclusion Project's policy tracker, COVID-19 Policy Response in East Asia, here: https://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/research/social-inclusion-project
Watch the panel discussion:
(Photo: Ivan Diaz)