Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong offer successful strategies, at least so far, in battling a pandemic. But they use tactics that the U.S. and Europe may not be able to replicate. SINGAPORE — Two hours. That’s all the time medical teams in Singapore are given to uncover the first details of how patients contracted the coronavirus and which people they might infect. Did they travel abroad? Do they have a link to one of the five clusters of contagion identified across the city-state? Did they cough on someone in the street? Who are their friends and family, their drinking buddies and partners in prayer? As Western nations struggle with the wildfire spread of the coronavirus , Singapore’s strategy, of moving rapidly to track down and test suspected cases, provides a model for keeping the epidemic at bay, even if it can’t completely stamp out infections. With detailed detective work, the government’s contact tracers found, among others, a group of avid sin...
Officials say regulations are meant to curb video game addiction, which they blame for a rise in nearsightedness and poor academic performance. BEIJING — No playing video games after 10 p.m. No more than 90 minutes of gaming on weekdays. Want add-ons like virtual weapons and costumes? Keep it to $57 a month. The Chinese government has released new rules aimed at curbing video game addiction among young people, a problem that top officials believe is to blame for a rise in nearsightedness and poor academic performance across a broad swath of society. The regulations , announced by the National Press and Publication Administration on Tuesday, ban users younger than 18 from playing games between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. They are not permitted to play more than 90 minutes on weekdays and three hours on weekends and holidays. The limits are the government’s latest attempt to rein in China’s online gaming industry, one of the world’s largest, which generates more th...