Digital Transformation Helping Singapore Tackle COVID-19

Despite facing several challenges such as increasing aging population, Singapore has so far done a commendable job in managing the COVID-19 outbreak. This has been made possible, in part, because of the development and deployment of transformational technologies in its healthcare system, according to GlobalData, a worldwide data and analytics company. 
 
GlobalData’s report, “CountryFocus: Healthcare, Regulatory and Reimbursement Landscape – Singapore,” reveals that telemedicine, electronic health records, patient solutions, medical diagnostics, health management solutions, personal health and fitness and medical education are some of the areas in Singapore’s healthcare sector where technology plays a major role. 
 
Having learned from its experience in managing the SARS outbreak in 2003, Singapore acknowledged the COVID-19 crisis early by sharpening border restrictons, and by initiating aggressive testing and quarantine measures. The country has been presented as  a model to many other nations worldwide for what it has done to contain the outbreak in the early stages.
 
Pratibha Thammanabhatla, a medical devices analyst at GlobalData, commented: “Investments made by the Singapore government to strengthen its technological capabilities in healthcare sector for years now is playing a major role in controlling the virus.”
 
The nation continued to innovate and launch newer testing technologies such as fast-track swab test kits, automated temperature screenings and contact tracing apps to address the crisis. 
 
Thammanabhatla concluded: “Though Singapore did almost everything right to contain the virus by acting earlier than many other nations, a surge in the number of cases is seen in the recent days indicating how easily the virus is able to hit back. Other nations whose curve has flattened must see this as a caution and act accordingly to fight the battle against the pandemic and avoid further disruption.”