Singapore is set to do away with the colour-coded Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (Dorscon) framework in favour of a more intuitive system of informing the masses about the public health situation. Health Minister Ong Ye Kung announced in Parliament that the...
to the pandemic had pointed out that the Government had decided to be transparent and announce the Dorscon level publicly, even though it had been intended as a tool for ministries and agencies to coordinate a response.
In laying out the changes to the legislation, Mr Ong said that as opposed to colours, it is more intuitive to tell the public that there is an outbreak, threat or emergency, and that the law would also spell out what measures would take place under each state. “Whether people panic during a crisis depends a lot on the information they are getting, and whether they know what to do, to protect themselves and contribute towards societal resilience. If people listen to rumours, do not know what to do, they are likely to rush to the supermarkets and stock up on toilet paper and instant noodles.”
“While Covid-19 was a crisis and a serious threat, we did not declare a public health emergency. We wanted to restrict group sizes, but not to control movements of people. We were not planning to impose curfews nor invoke the Requisition of Resources Act to marshal resources,” said Mr Ong.
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