Part 3/13:
Initially, many countries relied on textbook methods such as contact tracing to contain the virus. However, the novel nature of COVID-19 revealed its sneaky ability to evade these efforts. As infection numbers grew, traditional contact tracing proved insufficient; the virus was outrunning teams trying to track and contain it.
Emerging studies reveal that individuals may contract COVID-19 without exhibiting symptoms, complicating efforts to curb its spread. The virus’s capacity to spread silently has kept health authorities on the backfoot. Singapore’s experience illustrates this, where the virus was quietly spreading among the population, forcing authorities to acknowledge that COVID-19 is incredibly adaptive, rendering initial assumptions about transmission incomplete.