Tough curbs in Singapore as leap In Covid-19 cases raises concern

Temporary closure of Jewel Changi Airport and restricted access to Changi Airport passenger terminal buildings (Changi Airport Twitter)

By Ivan Lim
Former AJA President, Contributor to AsiaN

SINGAPORE: Singapore is scrambling to check the proliferation of a more virulent Coronavirus in the community by a slew of tough restrictions that come close to a previous lockdown

Kicking in on May 16, and to last till June 13, social gatherings in public are capped at two, down from eight, and so is household visits a day while dining in at eateries and hawker centres is out. Only takeaways are allowed.

Mass events like worship services also see a cut in number of participants, and live shows and exhibitions have been cancelled. To cut down mixing at the workplace, employers are to allow their staff to work from home.

These measures are on top of mandatory wearing of masks, keeping social distance and using contact tracing devices before entering malls, libraries and other public places.

The clampdown came in response to sudden and alarming outbreaks at the key Changi Airport and at critical public hospitals and schools.

To date, Changi Airport has the biggest new Covid-19 cluster with a total of 68 cases. Apart from testing the office and ground works at the airport to ringfence the virus spread, passengers from highly affected countries will be segregated from others and will have to use separate immigration counters, baggage collection belts and would have to move with escorts.

The Changi Jewel, a nature-themed entertainment and shopping complex at the airport featuring the world’s tallest indoor water-fall, will be closed to visitors for two weeks.

The first sign of the city-state’s slide from April’s image of a haven amid the pandemic to May(hem) appeared on April 27 when a fully-vaccinated Filipina nurse at Tan Tock Seng Hospital tested positive for COvid-19. By May 1, the cluster of cases had grown to 16.

Calling the virus transmissions “worrying”, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told a May Day rally that the Government would promptly take tightened measures to stop the spread so as to avoid going into a second “circuit breaker.” This refers to orders a year ago to stay indoors, maintain social distancing and don masks from April 21 to June 1.

Concerns about a more virulent and contagious virus outbreak arose when the Ministry of Health disclosed that cases at the TTSH cluster bore the hallmarks of the B`6172 variant originating in India.

 Timeline of May(hem)

On May 4, Changi Airport became a new Covid-19 hotspot when an 88-year-old cleaner was confirmed to be infected by the virus. In the following days more cases surfaced.

May 7: A Victoria Junior College student was infected and contact tracing showed she had been to Changi Airport for lunch at the Kopitiam food court in Terminal 3.

May 11: Of 13 community cases detected, one was an unlinked one— a Malaysian working as an operating theatre technician at the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

By May 12, A pupil at Yio Chu Kang Primary School came down with the virus and the school switched to home-based learning for three days.

May 13

Of the 24 local cases, 19 are linked to Changi Airport cluster. It is the largest with 46 cases while the Tan Tock Seng Hospital cluster had 44.

Cy, several pupils from seven primary schools were added to the list of domestic cases. They were linked to a cluster at a tuition centre.

May 15: There were 19 new community cases, including a Changi Prison inmate and four children linked to the Learning Point tuition centre cluster

May 16:  A tally of 49 new cases reported, including 38 locally transmitted cases.

The spillover of the Covid-19 cases in the education institution prompted the Ministry of Education to announce that primary and secondary schools as well as junior colleges, the Millennia Institute and special schools will switch to home-based learning  from May 19 till the end of school term on May 28.

To date, the Changi Airport cluster stands out as the largest with 68 active cases. This, together with 12 other clusters, including those linked to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Immigration and Checkpoint Authority, has spooked public sentiments.

Initial reaction to the tighter regime was reflected in the queues forming outside supermarkets, reminiscent of last year’s Circuit Breaker lockdown. However, there was no sign of panic buying

Singapore has been reporting a growing number of Covid-19 cases that preliminary tests coming positive for the B1617 variant originating in India.

However, the apparent leakage of imported Covid 19 has put paid to the calculated risk the city-state has taken in articulating a policy of keeping its borders open to travellers from high-risk countries. The policy is based on the need to keep the national carrier Singapore Airlines going and to bring in migrant workers, including from South Asia for the construction and marine sectors.

The Multi-Ministry Covid-19 Taskforce, backed by a panel of infectious diseases experts, is banking on a strict regime of swab tests as well as 14-day quarantine and 7-days Stay-Home Notices to screen passengers arriving at Changi Airport for the contagion.

With the spike in domestic Covid-19 cases the isolation period has been extended to 21 days for passengers arriving from high-rise countries

Caught on the back foot, the Ministry of Health sought to parry criticisms by saying that the variant is a global phenomenon and was not unique to Singapore.

Of the 271 imported Covid-19cases emanating from South Asia over 28 days, about half were Singaporeans and permanent residents, it said. Work pass holders, student pass holders and dependents made up 46.5 per cent while the rest of 3.3 per cent were short-term visitors.

And out of 409 of such imported cases from April 16 to last Thursday, less than eight per cent were short-term visitors.

With the shine wearing off in Singapore’s ranking by Bloomberg as the safest or best place to be in during the Covid-19 pandemic, netizens have been calling out the government for not acting fast enough to keep out foreign carriers of the Novel Coronavirus and its mutants.

Contending that the first-line of defence against the virus at Changi Airport s had clearly been breached, one netizen said: “Even if we can’t close our doors, at least shut the windows.”

Another netizen argued that Bloomberg’s accolade had contributed to Singapore complacency in tackling the influx of visitors from high-risk countries, especially those from South Asia.

If so, the economic benefits derived from its open borders policy may be outweighed by the domestic costs of a potential lockdown.