4 ms·

Singapore also has a lot of air conditioning. Perhaps the transmission is occurring primarily indoors, away from the 30ºC heat.

sitkack 7y ago
And circulated through the building via blowers.
nutjob2 7y ago
Exactly. The comparison with Indonesia is interesting, which has a similar climate, but isn't as rich or developed as Singapore. Air conditioning is actually very conducive to colds and the like. When you go from outside to inside you're usually sweaty and the air conditioning tends to make you too cold until you dry out. I've caught way more sniffles in the tropics than in the freezing climates.
- tim333 7y ago
  Anecdotally, I flew from Bali to Singapore today and there seemed to be a lot more sniffles and coughing in Singapore. In Bali the architecture is very open with lots of fresh air, scooters being popular for transport whereas in Singapore they tend more to sitting together in air conditioned boxes of various types (buildings, busses etc).
et-al 7y ago
Air-conditioning also removes humidity from the air. On a tangent, I'd love to see a graph of illnesses during summer before / after the widespread adoption of AC.
- mrfusion 7y ago
  Someone could do a study of schools with broken ACs. That might be an easy way to study it.
  - robjan 7y ago
    I don't think a school would operate with broken AC
    - inferiorhuman 7y ago
      At least in the US plenty of schools in hot climates do not have A/C. https://www.the74million.org/article/exclusive-too-hot-to-learn-records-show-nearly-a-dozen-of-the-biggest-school-districts-lack-air-conditioning/ https://www.the74million.org/article/exclusive-too-hot-to-le... Even those that do have A/C don't cancel class when it breaks. https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/education/2019/09/11/ac-outages-some-brevard-schools-due-aging-broken-equipment/2285941001/ https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/education/2019/09/11... The real takeaway from the 74 Million piece is that information about HVAC in American schools is difficult to come by. It would certainly be interesting to look at COVID-19 in schools vis-a-vis A/C, but good luck prying information from the school districts about either infections or air conditioning. Perhaps it would be easier in a tropical country like SG where A/C is more of a necessity than a luxury.
    - ValentineC 7y ago
      Most public schools in Singapore don't have A/C in most of their classrooms.
rgoulter 7y ago
The primary means of getting around in Singapore is public transportation (bus, train).
- inferiorhuman 7y ago
  Public transit in SG is heavily air conditioned.

sitkack 7y ago

And circulated through the building via blowers.

nutjob2 7y ago

Exactly. The comparison with Indonesia is interesting, which has a similar climate, but isn't as rich or developed as Singapore. Air conditioning is actually very conducive to colds and the like. When you go from outside to inside you're usually sweaty and the air conditioning tends to make you too cold until you dry out. I've caught way more sniffles in the tropics than in the freezing climates.

tim333 7y ago
Anecdotally, I flew from Bali to Singapore today and there seemed to be a lot more sniffles and coughing in Singapore. In Bali the architecture is very open with lots of fresh air, scooters being popular for transport whereas in Singapore they tend more to sitting together in air conditioned boxes of various types (buildings, busses etc).

et-al 7y ago

Air-conditioning also removes humidity from the air. On a tangent, I'd love to see a graph of illnesses during summer before / after the widespread adoption of AC.

mrfusion 7y ago
Someone could do a study of schools with broken ACs. That might be an easy way to study it.
- robjan 7y ago
  I don't think a school would operate with broken AC
  - inferiorhuman 7y ago
    At least in the US plenty of schools in hot climates do not have A/C. https://www.the74million.org/article/exclusive-too-hot-to-learn-records-show-nearly-a-dozen-of-the-biggest-school-districts-lack-air-conditioning/ https://www.the74million.org/article/exclusive-too-hot-to-le... Even those that do have A/C don't cancel class when it breaks. https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/education/2019/09/11/ac-outages-some-brevard-schools-due-aging-broken-equipment/2285941001/ https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/education/2019/09/11... The real takeaway from the 74 Million piece is that information about HVAC in American schools is difficult to come by. It would certainly be interesting to look at COVID-19 in schools vis-a-vis A/C, but good luck prying information from the school districts about either infections or air conditioning. Perhaps it would be easier in a tropical country like SG where A/C is more of a necessity than a luxury.
  - ValentineC 7y ago
    Most public schools in Singapore don't have A/C in most of their classrooms.

rgoulter 7y ago

The primary means of getting around in Singapore is public transportation (bus, train).

inferiorhuman 7y ago
Public transit in SG is heavily air conditioned.