back to article Singapore pulls plug on COVID tracking program

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Thursday that it was finally pulling the plug on its COVID tracking program. On February 13, the city-state's TraceTogether (TT) program, which uses the Bluetooth radios in mobile phones to track movements, and its business check-in system SafeEntry (SE) will come to a halt. …

  1. Steve Button Silver badge

    Singapore fared somewhat better?

    Would be interesting to qualify that a bit.

    How much better? How much did they have to spend per life saved (or more importantly, per QALY)

    How much did they waste by forcing people to isolate just for being near someone who tested positive? (in lost economic activity)

    What did they do differently compared to say the UK, where we spaffed £37 B on Test and Trace for very little return?

    It seems to be a balancing act, and most countries seemed to spend a great deal for very little return (if any?)

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge
      Trollface

      Re: spend a great deal for very little return

      Oh come now. You only say that because you're not part of the select group that had their snoughts in the trough.

      I'm sure they feel that the return was quite satisfactory.

    2. elsergiovolador Silver badge

      Re: Singapore fared somewhat better?

      Cui bono?

      The lockdowns largely benefited big corporations affiliated with Davos.

      We have witnessed probably the biggest wealth transfer in history.

      1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

        Re: Singapore fared somewhat better?

        The wealth transfer due to the post-2008 financial repression was considerably worse. What we've since 2022 is arguably the first transfer from financial to labour capital in over a generation. Yes, inflation hurts your wallet but, pay rises generally catch up at some point. Asset values don't get the same relief, which is only fair as they were inflated during the reign unusually low interest rates.

        1. SundogUK Silver badge

          Re: Singapore fared somewhat better?

          And what the fuck is "labour capital" when it's at home?

          1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

            Re: Singapore fared somewhat better?

            Term used in economics, also "human capital". Industrialisation is generally considerd to favour "capital" (money) over "labour" (people actually doing stuff. This has been the case in the West since the 1980s which has led to a greater concentration of wealth as low skilled workers have seen their incomes stagnate or disappear. There are occasional reversals (post-WII to the first oil crisis).

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @elsergiovolador - Re: Singapore fared somewhat better?

        and also the most daring attempt at introducing vaccine as a service which could guarantee a steady revenue stream for a certain industry.

      3. gandalfcn Silver badge

        Re: Singapore fared somewhat better?

        £elsergiovolador Bless.

    3. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: Singapore fared somewhat better?

      Test and trace systems can only work in extremely repressive regimes and even then for a limited period of time. Selection pressure drives viral evolution to spread faster and faster. You get a couple of months at best to boost primary care, setup protocols around the most vulnerable and maybe inculcate behavioural changes in the population. After that, it's down to the immune system, which can be helped with vaccinnations,

      What we're increasingly seeing around the world, as the pandemic moves to endemic status, is a return to the mean for deaths due to COVID despite technical and epidemiological measures (vaccinnations).

      However, the illusion of control gained through such measures mean they'll used again next time.

    4. gandalfcn Silver badge

      Re: Singapore fared somewhat better?

      "How much did they have to spend per life saved" Life is worth how much? Yours? Not a lot it seems.

      UK. Deaths per million. 2,991

      Singapore. Deaths per million. 290.

      The UK's problem was an incompetent government and a stroppy, self centred population. i.e. "How much did they have to spend per life saved"

      Life is more than money you know. Anyway S'pore is still doing better economically than the UK.

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