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This paper explores the ethical challenges in deciding whether to vaccinate individuals lacking the decision-making capacity needed to provide informed consent during a public health emergency like COVID-19. The best interests standard ordinarily governs such decisions, which under the law in jurisdictions like England, Wales and Singapore takes into account the individual's past wishes and present preferences. However, in a public health emergency, the interests of third parties become more salient: those whom the unvaccinated individual might expose to infection have an interest in the individual's being vaccinated. While current mental capacity law has not been interpreted to take such public health considerations into account, we argue that such considerations are nevertheless ethically relevant, and can legitimately be weighed up alongside other considerations such as the preferences of the individual and impacts on their health. This is most relevant for individuals lacking decision-making capacity who have previously declined or presently resist vaccination. The public health impact of vaccination may in some instances be enough to outweigh preferences of the individual and justify providing vaccination against their past or present wishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its excellent public healthcare system and efficient public administration, Singapore has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While fatalities in the city-state remain low and contact tracing efforts have been largely successful, it has nonetheless experienced high rates of infection and the emergence of large infection clusters in its foreign worker dormitories. This paper analyses this dual-track policy outcome – low fatalities but high infection rates – from a policy capacity perspective. Specifically, the policy capacities that had contributed to Singapore's low fatality rates and effective contact tracing are identified while the capacity deficiencies that may have caused its high rates of infection are discussed. In doing so, I argue that the presence of fiscal, operational and political capacities that were built up after the SARS crisis had contributed to Singapore's low fatality rate and contact tracing capabilities while deficiencies in analytical capacities may explain its high infection rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Singapore is among the several countries affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The outbreak has elicited panic and unease among Singapore's public. This study aimed to analyze the comments left on local media news outlets to find common concerns and discuss potential new measures that can be developed to reduce panic and support for Singapore's public during and beyond COVID-19. Methods A qualitative content analysis on the comments on relevant news articles from the Facebook pages of six online local news publications dated from 23 January 2020 to the 3 April 2020 was carried out. Results Five common themes were derived 1 : fear and concern (35.42%), 2 panic buying and hoarding (21.21%), 3 reality and expectations about the situation (20.24%), 4 staying positive amid the 'storm' (10.07%) and 5 worries about the future (5.01%). The analysis revealed that fear and concern were the main reasons behind the public's responses. Conclusion Clear communication between the government and the public is one of the best ways to maintain calm among the public and to contribute to greater social cooperation. Timely updates and support measures from the government further help to maintain social peace and cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken over the world at an unprecedented scale. As Infectious Diseases fellows, this has come straight into the heart of our specialty and created a unique impact on our training progress and perspective. Here, we reflect on our early experiences during the first three months of battling COVID-19 in Singapore and glean some lessons for this pandemic and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With coronavirus disease 2019 declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020, occupational health services in a tertiary hospital in Singapore stepped up via a three‐pronged approach, namely, protection of individual staff, protection of staff workforce, and prevention of nosocomial spread so as to support business continuity plans. Despite the multiple new challenges brought by the COVID‐19 pandemic, the hospital's occupational health services were able to adapt and keep all employees and patients safe with strong support from senior management and close collaboration with various departments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]