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Singapore is working 'round the clock' to find coronavirus cases. Lying about where you've been can result in 6 months of jail or a fine of up to $10,000.

Singapore has a strict protocol for tracking cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

singapore covid 19 masks on the street
  • The system relies on police, surveillance footage, ATM records, and a dedicated team of contact tracers, who map out where patients went in the days and weeks before they were diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .

Anyone who catches COVID-19 in Singapore can expect to answer a lot of questions about where they've been, and who they've met along the way.

If they don't comply, people can be put in jail for months or subject to thousands of dollars in fines. That is how seriously the southeast Asian city-state of 6 million takes its disease contact tracing.

"Contact tracing teams have been working round the clock" for more than 13 hours a day, tracing back the steps of anyone who's contracted the novel coronavirus, a Singapore Ministry of Health spokesperson told Business Insider.

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So far, the ministry has picked up 117 confirmed cases of COVID-19 , and quarantined more than three thousand others, to help stop the spread of the virus. Here's how the tightly-controlled system works.

Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

That's what's happened in China , and the strategy seems to be working well in Singapore too.

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"We don't even talk about containment for seasonal flu it's just not possible," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva on Tuesday . "But it is possible for COVID-19. We don't do contact tracing for seasonal flu but countries should do it for COVID-19, because it will prevent infections and save lives."

Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

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Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

"Think of what has happened in the last five days," Dr. Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious disease specialist in Singapore, recently told The World . "What did you do? Where did you go? Who did you meet?"

These are the kinds of questions that Singapore health workers aim to answer when they interview patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19.

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Ore Huiying/Getty Images

"They make use of all resources, including the police," Nam said. "If you realize it, everywhere we go, we do leave a digital signature, be it from the cash we draw, or the use of the ATM card or the credit card. It leaves digital signatures all around. Now with all this information, we actually try to track and find out where the person has gone."

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Ore Huiying/Getty Images

Though it's possible for the novel coronavirus to get passed around on hard surfaces, by far the most common source of transmission is through respiratory droplets spread by person to person contact.

That's why people who are sick are encouraged to isolate themselves and wear a mask when around others. A safe distance of 6 feet is recommended.

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This helps better determine where the person might've picked up their infection.

Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

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This is also how the Ministry of Health has been able to better determine which cases in the country are "linked" to one another.

Reuters/Edgar Su

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Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

Most people have finished their quarantines by now, but 381 were still under lockdown as of March 5, the ministry said .

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Maverick Asio/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

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They're asked to keep a close watch on their own health, and if they develop symptoms, put on a mask and go see a doctor.

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Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

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Reuters/Edgar Su

"MOH [Ministry of Health] was able to establish their true movements through detailed investigations," the ministry said in a release.

Ore Huiying/Getty Images

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Singapore's deputy prime minister said the government is doing everything in its power to "slow down the spread of the virus," Bloomberg reported .

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33 people died from SARS in Singapore during that outbreak, 17 years ago. Others who were suspected of having the illness wore electronic bracelets to better ensure they didn't leave the house.

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So far, no one in Singapore has died from COVID-19.

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