Singapore government rolls out a contact tracing app that rapidly identifies and prevents further community spread of COVID-19

March 25, 2020 | Case Study

Singapore has one of the highest population densities and fastest-aging populations in the world. Both of these factors present strong risk factors for COVID-19 community spread and mortality rates. Yet Singapore has managed to keep its community spread and death rates under control thanks to a slew of measures rolled out promptly. However, gaps still remain, and through its digital government agency (GovTech), Singapore has rolled out a contact tracing app, TraceTogether. Contact tracing aims to understand how an infectious disease is spreading in a community. Contact tracing is vital to curbing further community transmission, as it helps figure out who a sick person caught the virus from and who they’ve been in contact with while infectious. A key challenge in contact tracing is the ability to gain reliable recall from individuals. While dishonest declarations can happen, it has been found that many are also just unable to recall accurately or to the level of detail asked. Recollection rates in seniors are also poorer on average.