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Table 1 Comparison between the SARS and COVID-19 Outbreaks in Singapore

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

 

SARS

COVID-19

Outbreak period (Global)

November 2002 to July 2003

November 2019 to present

Outbreak period (Singapore)

March 2003 to June 2003

January 2020 to present

First reported case in Singapore

March 1, 2003

January 23, 2020

Total confirmed cases

238

1,773,386

Local Death toll

(Case fatality rate)

33 

(14%)

1543

(0. 09%)

Rapid diagnostics

RT-PCR/reverse transcription polymerase reaction

RT-PCR/reverse transcription polymerase reaction/Antigen-rapid test (ART)

Medical prevention

Not available (No FDA-approved vaccination)

Available

(FDA-approved vaccines and antiviral pills)

Governance Structure

From the Operations Group

(Led by the MOH) to the three-tiered taskforce (Led by the MHA):

Inter-Minister Committee (IMC), Core Executive Group (CEG) and Inter-Ministerial SARS

Operation Committee (IMOC)

Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF)

(Currently led by the Minister for Health and the Minister for Finance together)

  1. In the case of COVID-19 outbreak, total confirmed cases and local death toll were calculated as of August 10, 2022
  2. Source: Compiled from various sources [39, 49]