REACH (Telegram) 119 - What are your thoughts on the measures taken by the Government in light of the rise in measles cases?
(SK)
09 Feb 2026 (10am - 7pm)
REACH (Telegram)
REACH Singapore, [9/2/2026 9:26 am]
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REACH Singapore, [9/2/2026 10:01 am]
π’ Topic π’
On Friday (6 Feb), the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced that Singapore would be introducing measures such as mandatory isolation for measles cases, contact tracing and quarantine of some close contacts, after detecting a rise in infections. These measures come after eleven measles cases were recorded in January, compared with two cases in January 2025 and 27 cases for the whole of 2025.
π¬ What are your thoughts on the measures taken by the Government in light of the rise in measles cases?
π About measles
Measles, caused by the measles virus, is one of the most highly infectious diseases. The virus is spread through air droplets and direct contact with nasal and throat secretions. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat and rashes.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said 99 per cent of adults in Singapore have immunity against measles, largely due to the national vaccination programme.
"Hence the virus will find it hard to spread. But if our immunity coverage falls below 95 per cent, we may start losing our herd immunity," he said in a Facebook post.
π 11 cases of measles reported in Jan 2026
All 11 cases were not fully vaccinated against measles, including three infants under 12 months old who were not yet eligible for the MMR vaccine. Among the 11 cases, one was a tourist, while the remaining 10 live in Singapore. Seven of the cases had travelled overseas recently.
Laboratory testing also confirmed that three cases were genetically linked, even though they had no known contact with each other. "This suggests the possibility of undetected local transmission in the community," the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) said in a media release.
π Measures against measles
Given the rise in measles cases, Singapore authorities are stepping up precautionary public health measures. These include mandatory isolation of confirmed cases until they are no longer infectious. Cases who are not admitted to hospitals will be placed on home isolation, and random video calls will be conducted to ensure they comply with the rules, CDA said.
Contact tracing will also be conducted for all infected cases. High-risk close contacts such as infants, non-immune pregnant women and immunocompromised individuals will be offered post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to mitigate the risk of severe symptoms in case of an infection.
Medical practitioners are also advised to be vigilant for measles cases, particularly in patients who have recently travelled overseas or who have not been fully vaccinated. Suspected cases should be reported to CDA promptly, the CDA said.
The CDA also mentioned that vaccination was the best way to prevent measles infection.
“The MMR vaccine is highly effective and safe, and confers long-term immunity after completion of the recommended doses," CDA said.
The CDA added: "High vaccination coverage not only protects individuals but creates herd immunity within the Singapore population that protects those who are unable to receive vaccinations, such as infants under 12 months old and severely immunocompromised individuals."
ππ» https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/spore-heightens-precautions-against-measles-amid-global-local-surge-possible-local-transmission
ππ» https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/measles-cases-singapore-isolation-contact-tracing-quarantine-5912111?
ππ» https://www.cda.gov.sg/news-and-events/public-health-measures-stepped-up-as-measles-cases-rise-globally-and-in-singapore/
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Daniel, [9/2/2026 10:07 am]
Seems reasonable. I would appreciate (in general) clearer guidelines on vaccination recommendations for adults. It can be challenging to know what vaccinations are needed and which one one has gotten as a kid (the old vaccination records can be a bit tricky and the national immunization registry website is rather clunky and outdated and does not reflect older vaccinations).
Daniel, [9/2/2026 10:08 am]
Just noticed this in the context of these news as my wife and I wanted to check whether we had a complete set of measles vaccinations and it proved harder to find out than we thought.
Adam, [9/2/2026 10:45 am]
Yeah i dont know whether i got some vaccine in childhood or not
Adam, [9/2/2026 10:46 am]
And vaccines are expensive
Adam, [9/2/2026 10:46 am]
They reccomend take vaccine, but the incentives are not much
Adam, [9/2/2026 10:47 am]
I dont think insurance premiums decrease for vaccinated
Adam, [9/2/2026 10:47 am]
What if they make it such that medishield premiums goes down if you take it
Adam, [9/2/2026 10:47 am]
Surely people who are vaccinated put less strain on the medical system right?
REACH Singapore, [9/2/2026 11:00 am]
[ Poll : I am concerned about the rise in measles cases in Singapore. ]
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
- Strongly Disagree
REACH Singapore, [9/2/2026 11:00 am]
[ Poll : I am confident in the Government’s ability to manage the rise in measles cases. ]
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
- Strongly Disagree
REACH Singapore, [9/2/2026 11:18 am]
Dear Contributors,
Please take a moment to participate in our polls and share your opinion. The poll questions are pinned for easy reference and your vote is anonymous.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts on today’s topic!
π¬ What are your thoughts on the measures taken by the Government in light of the rise in measles cases?
Thank you.
Megan π
G, [9/2/2026 11:53 am]
Seems like unnecessary fearmongering
It's been the law to vaccinate against measles since 1985.
"If our immunity falls coverage falls below 95%.."
This can only happen when people are imported in without immunisation
G, [9/2/2026 11:59 am]
Since it is the law in SG to be immunised against measles, then there needs to be a breakdown on all 11 cases.
1 tourist
3 infants (not eligible for jab yet)
Then what about the other 7? What's their background? How come they became infected with measles?
Such info is necessary to give Singaporeans assurances that they are indeed already protected because of the immunisation that they already received
By withholding critical information, it just gives rise to unnecessary fearmongering
UNLESS, what CDA are trying to say between the lines is that the measles jabs didn't work.. And if that's the case, then what next? Have another national drive to jab more people with jabs that don't work?
G, [9/2/2026 12:53 pm]
Why don't want to say which countries the infected people arrived from?
REACH Singapore, [9/2/2026 1:36 pm]
π¨This just in: Singapore telcos were the targets of UNC3886 cyber attack last year, but no customer data was stolen and attack was contained
π https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/unc3886-cyberattack-targets-singapore-telcos-threat-contained-5916906?cid=FBcna&fbclid=IwY2xjawP2QrlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA80MDk5NjI2MjMwODU2MDkAAR4yYIyn5hBdFK3cZDprkNbGwmFnVAJnqdz_BIrCpj3BHCLVrSnPrq_uWrUK3g_aem_nyU1XdfUlKtkzSY8KM48ZQ
Khai Mun L., [9/2/2026 1:49 pm]
Could be medical reasons why some singaporeans not vaccinated, or they bypass the scheduled medical checks or schooling.
E.g. stateless people or very poor families in the past when monitoring was not comphrensive
Khai Mun L., [9/2/2026 1:51 pm]
Fear mongering could go both ways.
If reported the unvaccinated come from single country, are we stoking fears that everyone from that race/country is a medical risk?
REACH Singapore, [9/2/2026 2:03 pm]
π’ Topic π’
G, [9/2/2026 2:24 pm]
If report the country / countries, then concrete actions can be put in place for proper risk mitigation.
If want to be "polite" then it will appear that people's feelings are prioritised over public health
Or you would rather put public health / singaporeans' healths at higher risk over the feelings of a small group of foreigners?
Khai Mun L., [9/2/2026 2:51 pm]
I'm thinking back to covid days, when there were voices to close our borders to certain countries. Are we going to consider this again? And possibly deporting people that already enter singapore?
Wouldn't this also generate fear and chaos? When it's a small portion of people who are unvaccinated
Berry R, [9/2/2026 3:04 pm]
So unsettling given we rely on our phones for so many things like banking to medical appt. Quite relieved that data was not compromised but really cannot take this kind of things for granted cause total network blackout is nightmare! π¨π¨π¨
Jun Ming, [9/2/2026 3:28 pm]
Fair treat it like covid
Jun Ming, [9/2/2026 3:28 pm]
If not what y'all want to do sia other than this measure
G, [9/2/2026 3:36 pm]
So what is it..? is measles even a disease of concern? Why or why not?
If it is a disease of concern, then promptly put proper risk mitigating measures in place
If it's not a disease of concern, then why worry and put out this kind of articles that fearmonger?
G, [9/2/2026 3:37 pm]
Article already speculate that there's underlying undetected community transmission. If people don't know who/where/what to avoid, doesn't it further increase transmission risks?
LCL (Danny εΏ), [9/2/2026 3:56 pm]
1. I feel that our MMR vaccination against measles for the whole population should be a good protection against measles outbreak if we are able to achieve 95% herd immunity.
2. Nevertheless, we should still take precaution by adopting isolation for those that have contracted measles, do contact tracing and adopt the measures similar to Covid to prevent an outbreak as measles is contagious.
REACH Singapore, [9/2/2026 4:03 pm]
π’ Topic π’
LCL (Danny εΏ), [9/2/2026 4:16 pm]
1. As for the UNC3886 cyberattack, firewall is the security device to block unauthorised access. But the APT hacker is able to exploit the zero day vulnerabilities in the firewall software and break through, then the firewall will be render ineffective.
2. The only effective way to stop such skilful APT attack is "Defense in Depth" - and use different brand, type and firewall software - so that when the frontier firewall is breakthrough, the 2nd layer firewall of different brand without similar vulnerability could stop it.
3. Wonder if SIEM is deployed to detect APT cyberattack. Because SIEM - Security Incidents and Events Management is an effective tools to correlate all device logs - security devices, network devices, system devices, apps log to detect anomalies, likely cyberattack and alert administrators and cyber defenders that a likely cyberattack has taken place.
Nicholas, [9/2/2026 4:24 pm]
Observe heavy coughing throughout the public transport system and even in the workplace, believe MOH should look into this. It's quite unusual to see so many people coughing and the cough lasts for weeks. Seems very widespread and infectious. More concerned about this than measles.
Berry R, [9/2/2026 4:32 pm]
I feel like we aren’t talking about this enough… UNC3886 isn’t just any group but cyber espionage. I am relieved that our agencies are taking measures but cannot help wonder what kind of information that group was after and what could have happened if they had managed to carry out their attack successfully??
LCL (Danny εΏ), [9/2/2026 4:57 pm]
1. APT hackers are usually State sponsor.
2. Usually they hope to achieve more than 1 objective.
3. They could hope to achieve :
a. Mass surveillance of targeted organisations and vital personnel
b. Intelligence gatherings - the activities carried out by the targeted organisations and personnel
c. Spying, data theft - sensitive corporate data, trade secrets, IPR - eg. technology, government defense, economic political etc
d. Establish persistent foothold - to enable persistent breach into the telecom network to gain continuous access to all the critical information infrastructure.
e. Support their geopolitical advantage - to understand our foreign policies, state objectives - so that they can formulate strategies, social media narratives to sway target audiences to support their geopolitical objectives.
4. Note APT hackers - are not necessary carried out by adversaries, it can also be carried out by friendly states or even allies.
G, [9/2/2026 4:58 pm]
Ground softening article to increase political office holders salaries? π
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/median-household-income-crosses-12000-mark-for-first-time-in-2025
LCL (Danny εΏ), [9/2/2026 5:02 pm]
And in the event of wars and confrontation, APT attackers can cripple critical information infrastructure (CII) - by bringing down banking, power, water supply, telecommunications and deny essential services to the population.
LCL (Danny εΏ), [9/2/2026 5:14 pm]
1. But looking at the news reports, the APT hackers only managed to penetrate the 1st layer of frontier firewall and was detected.
2. This means that the APT hacker only manage to penetrate the DMZ zone and get trapped there before being detected.
3 So harms are limited as DMZ usually don't hold any vital data - in a "Defense in Depth" - as the 2nd layer of security defence has stopped the APT hackers in their track - before our cyber defenders move in to clear their malware and tracks and block them up.
4. Nevertheless, we still need to be vigilant because APT hackers are very persistent, and they will try again.
Berry R, [9/2/2026 5:21 pm]
Yup, your pt 4 is very correct. They will keep trying and look for another zero day. So is just strengthening and building defenses enough? There should be a solid back up plan. Just hope this unc incident stands our cyber agencies in good stead.
LCL (Danny εΏ), [9/2/2026 5:46 pm]
1. Individual telcos usually have more than 1 set of network infrastructure running in active-active or active-passive mode.
2. It is possible that if a primary set of network infrastructure is brought down, it is possible to switch to the 2nd set.
3. Also different Telcos eg. Singtel and Starhub have their own backbone network infrastructure.
Eg. Singtel network backbone could be running DWDM.
Starhub network backbone could run SDH or SONET.
4. Critical Organisation CII like power, bank, government, security could run dual infrastructure one leg to Singtel and one leg to Starhub.
5. So if APT hacker compromise Singtel network, CII orgranization could shut off their leg in Singtel while waiting for the cyber defenders to cleanse the APT hackers while running on Starhub leg.
This ensure our CII organisation continuous service without disruption.
6. Effectively, there are 4 backup plans to APT attacks.
2 each per Telcos.
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