Around the world countries are grappling with the COVID-19 outbreak, and in Asia, local governments have put measures in place to curb the spread. Hong Kong was impacted early on and issued a quarantine order on 8 February 2020. Singapore was quick in detecting and responding to the cases and has been thorough in regulating its spatial use since then. Malaysia has issued a Movement Control Order since March 2020. Indonesia has recently followed suit with its Government Regulation Number 21 Year 2020 about Large-Scale Social Distancing to regulate localised movement.

In handling the COVID-19 outbreak, Singapore has come up tops in its whole-government response (Statnews) in acting quickly; rigorous detection and strict quarantines, as well as effective communication (Time). How exactly do the measures play out in terms of space and building use? We take a look at some of the key governmental measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 that have impacted the use of common/public and commercial/private spaces.