In the early months of 2020, Singapore had a low number of community infections. We gained an international reputation as one of the few countries that managed to keep a tight lid on the situation. But any confidence we had from our initial success was soon shaken when we were hit with the most daunting challenge in that early stage of our fight against the virus.

There was an outbreak of COVID-19 infections among the migrant workers housed in 43 Purpose-Built Dormitories (PBDs). The 300,000 residents in these dormitories made up the vast majority of the 370,000 work permit holders we had at that time. They were an important part of the workforce in sectors such as construction, shipbuilding and process industries.

There were four COVID-19 cases detected across the 43 PBDs as at 30 March 2020. But just two weeks later, by 16 April 2020, the cases there had increased exponentially to almost 3,000. They accounted for about 70% of the cases nationwide and this put a spotlight on the magnitude of the contagion in the dormitories.

The first four infections - detected in S11 @ Punggol and Westlite Toh Guan dormitories - had already led to both dormitories being declared as clusters. By 5 April 2020, all their 20,000 residents were under quarantine. It was mind-boggling to think about what would be required to deal with the healthcare crisis that was looming, not to mention the potential economic consequences.