Thread by @latimes

In Singapore, thousands of red shirt-wearing public servants in sensible shoes are tasked with roaming shopping centers, parks and crowded open- air food courts to remind people to cover up, space apart and limit groups to five people or fewer. latimes.com/world-nation/s…

It’s a job akin to a professional hall monitor that would require hazard pay were it offered in the U.S., where bouts of violence have erupted over requests to wear a mask. latimes.com/world-nation/s…

But, in Singapore, where social responsibility and conformity are buttressed by perhaps the most impressive array of rules in the developed world, the “Red Ants” are treated as another paternalistic fact of life.

latimes.com/world-nation/s…

The ambassadors’ presence underscores the government’s resolve to prevent another outbreak after failing to heed warnings about the virus earlier this year in crowded migrant worker dormitories, where 95% of the island’s 58,000 infections have been found. latimes.com/world-nation/s…

After months of strict contact tracing, testing and quarantining, the nation of 5.8 million had only 61 active coronavirus cases as of Wednesday. Singapore’s death toll from the disease stands at 28. latimes.com/world-nation/s…