A comparative study of the prevention and control policies on the COVID-19 pandemic in Chinese and Singaporean models

Abstract

People's lives have changed considerably since the Coronavirus epidemic in December 2019. In the meantime, countries have enacted a slew of anti-virus measures, including mandatory nucleic acid testing, travel restrictions, and lockdowns, among others. China has used the "Zero-COVID" strategy, also known as the "Dynamic Zero-COVID" policy, to prevent the virus from spreading within the country for more than two years. On the other side, countries represented by Singapore have adopted a completely different approach, that is, "Coexisting with COVID," allowing the virus to spread in society without affecting people's normal life. The Chinese government's "Dynamic Zero-COVID" tolerance policy and Singapore's "Coexisting with COVID" are the focus of the research report. The goal is to assess and critically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages, as well as the consequences, of such a rigorous policy on the convenience of people's lives and other aspects of Chinese society compared with Singapore's "Coexisting with COVID" in terms of citizen attitudes. The study is divided into numerous components, each of which is based on previous researchers' knowledge of the convenience of life or a livable city, as well as the impact of existing epidemic prevention and control measures on the comfort of life for the representing cities, Shenzhen and Singapore. Furthermore, the study investigated Shenzhen residents who had lived there for more than two months after the outbreak to test their attitudes towards these two opposite policies. The findings from the first-hand questionnaire, which was used to conduct both quantitative and qualitative research, indicated that the general population is resistant to current Chinese "Dynamic Zero-COVID" strategies and believes that they have influenced their daily lives to some level. Eventually, practical suggestions would be made to improve the convenience of living in such a scenario.