Open AccessSingapore’s COVID-19 “circuit breaker” interventions: A description of individual-level adoptions of precautionary behaviours
Author(s) -
Aidan Lyanzhiang Tan,
S Y Ng,
Michelle Jessica Pereira
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
annals, academy of medicine, singapore/annals of the academy of medicine, singapore
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.299
H-Index - 60
ISSN - 0304-4602
DOI - 10.47102/annals-acadmedsg.2020597
Subject(s) - medicine , incidence (geometry) , psychological intervention , population , demography , covid-19 , confidence interval , environmental health , public health , hygiene , gerontology , disease , psychiatry , infectious disease (medical specialty) , nursing , physics , pathology , sociology , optics
: Effectiveness of COVID-19 control interventions relies significantly on behaviouralmodifications of its population. Differing adoption rates impacts subsequent COVID-19 control. Hence,positive and sustained behavioural modification is essential for disease control. We describe the adoptionrates of behavioural modifications for Singapore’s “circuit-breaker” (CB), the national public healthresponse to the COVID-19 crisis, among the general population in the community.Methods: We conducted an interrupted-time series study using retrospective secondary data. Wecompared the proportion of Singaporeans who reported adopting specific behaviour modifications before,during and after CB. Behaviours of interest were working from home, performing hand hygiene, usingface mask in public, and avoiding crowded areas. We compared change in incidence rates for communityCOVID-19 cases among the general population across the same time periods.Results: There was an increase in face mask usage (+46.9%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 34.9–58.8,P<0.01) and working from home (+20.4%, 95% CI 11.7–29.2, P<0.01) during CB than before CBin Singapore. Other self-reported behaviours showed no statistically significant difference. Change indaily incidence rates of community COVID-19 cases decreased from additional 0.73 daily case beforeCB to 0.55 fewer case per day during CB (P<0.01). There was no significant difference among allbehaviour adoption rates after CB. Daily incidence of community cases continued to decrease by 0.11case daily after CB.Conclusion: Community incidence of COVID-19 in Singapore decreased during CB and remained lowafter CB. Use of face masks and social-distancing compliance through working from home increasedduring CB. However, it is unlikely to influence other sources of COVID-19 such as imported cases orwithin foreign worker dormitories.Keywords: Behaviours, COVID-19, public health