Today, China’s health authorities informed the World Health
Organisation that a pneumonia of unknown cause was
circulating in the central transport hub city of Wuhan.
Within weeks, the entire world would be drawn into what was
to become the largest global
crisis since World War II and Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore would
find itself in the very eye of the storm.
From wild speculation to downright mis- and disinformation, the team
at Duke-NUS battled more than just the virus, with
researchers, particularly from the School’s
Emerging Infectious Diseases and
Health Services and Systems Research Programmes, stepping up to serve the nation and global
community. At the same time, our educators nimbly adapted
to a rapidly evolving situation and our students
demonstrated their resilience, creativity and compassion.
As you may already have read, many of them worked
throughout the Circuit Breaker in heavy personal protective
equipment. They missed family gatherings and struggled
through home-based learning.
At work, they modelled countless what-ifs. Cultured the
virus. Called attention to
the growing mental health crisis triggered by the pandemic.
Developed diagnostics. Tested vaccines. Planned countless iterations of the curriculum and
reconfigured timetables around a highly fluid clinical
world. Conducted exams during the height of the Circuit
Breaker. Created immersive online training experiences.
Looking back from the lofty vantage of 2023, we are proud
that all their work helped the public, replenished the
frontlines with much-needed trained manpower, and advanced
science and medical education practice.
To capture their memories and experiences — whose impression
will inevitably fade with time — the Communications and Strategic Relations team at
Duke-NUS set about chronicling the pandemic from Duke-NUS’
perspective. And we invite you to scroll through this
timeline to discover all our stories.
This timeline, populated with milestones, scientific
publications and the personal stories of the people on the
frontline, then, is our tribute to their dedication as well
as the commitment from everyone at Duke-NUS, the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre, our partners as well as
every single person who did their bit during the pandemic.
Thank YOU!
The Disease Outbreak Response System Condition or DORSCON
alert level was lowered to green on 13 February 2023. While we may be done with SARS-CoV-2, coronaviruses are unlikely to be done with us.
That's why we continue.
Yours sincerely,
Duke-NUS Communications & Strategic Relations
Special thanks to the contributors: Jessie Chew, Chua Li Min, Nicole Lim, Anirudh Sharma and Tan Ruilin; artists: Sci-Illustrate (Endosymbiont GmbH) and Dr Eleonora Adami, @brushandpipette