Singapore’s Changi found a cluster of Covid-19 infections among the cleaning staff (read more here) and decided to retest all the 9,000 or so airport employees.
The airport also closed the shopping center called Jewel that the non-traveling public could access and most open F&B outlets. There are now 46 cases, an overall small number compared to many countries outside of Asia, related to what took place at the airport.
Here’s an excerpt from the Straits Times:
The Changi Airport cluster has become the largest active Covid-19 cluster on Thursday (May 13) with a total of 46 cases confirmed.
The second largest Tan Tock Seng Hospital cluster has 44 linked cases.
Of the 19 new cases linked to the airport cluster, most are airport workers or their household contacts.
Overall, the number of new cases in the community has risen from 48 in the week before to 71 in the past week.
The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from seven in the week before to 15 in the past week.
The Covid-19 numbers are very low in Singapore albeit no zero.
Singapore enters mini lockdown per Channelnewsasia:
The current size of group gatherings allowed will be reduced from five people to two people, following a spike in COVID-19 community cases, said Minister for Education Lawrence Wong on Friday (May 14).
This, and other new measures under what the Health Ministry labelled as “Phase 2 (Heightened Alert)” will take effect from May 16 through Jun 13.
DINING-IN SUSPENDED, WORK-FROM-HOME AS DEFAULT
Dining-in at F&B establishments will also not be allowed, said Mr Wong. This includes hawker centres and food courts, both indoors and outdoors.
“All dining-in will have to cease … All F&B establishments will only be able to offer takeaway and delivery options. In line with this, wedding banquets will also have to cease because it’s a dining activity.”
Working from home will also be the default at workplaces, he added. “All employees who are able to work from home will have to do so. Work-from-home will be the default.”
Conclusion
Only so much a government can do unless they decide to close the entire city to prevent the virus from spreading.
The numbers in Singapore are minimal compared to many other countries, but significant considering all the Travel Bubbles that the city-state has been thinking of forming with countries such as Hong Kong (let’s see if it burst), Australia, and New Zealand.
IMHO, you need to accept a small number of Covid-19 cases, including deaths, because it seems unlikely that we can suppress the virus entirely, but rather learn to live with it when the pandemic transforms itself to a manageable endemic.
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The Singapore-HK bubble is extremely likely to get postponed again. For the third time, or is it fourth? I have lost count..
It looks that way with this spike
You said
“it seems unlikely that we can suppress the virus”
Indeed. It will spread until natural immunity is achieved. That is how viruses work. As I have said previously…When the bubble boy leaves his bubble, he catches the diseases he was trying to avoid..
I will emphasize what was not said in the notice; these people are not sick.
I would love to see the details of the test used.
When you say that is how viruses work do you mean certain ones like influenza and now corona? Or do we allow others to run as well say a rabies or HIV or hanta? I think you are saying that the mortality rate is low enough for corona to allow it to spread ‘naturally’ whilst still doing basic precautions like masks and vaccinating.
Out of interest what is your take on what Singapore should do here given their earlier efforts amd where we are at today? We often here let it all hang out or tight bubble lock down after a few cases .. is their something else Singapore should do based on where they are at now?
My opinion has not wavered; if this had been allowed to run its natural course (with no imposed precautions – I will not wear and have not worn a mask, social distance or use drying agents on my hands every time I go thru a door. You can feel free to show your fear of a ,03% fatality rate if you wish), we would have achieved real herd immunity within 2 months and we would be done with this.
Love your strawman suggestions regarding rabies and hanta. I have never known even a dog getting either. I am willing to bet your experience is the same.
Even the biblical Israelites did not quarantine the healthy.
Singapore should assert its independence and protect the individual rights of its people. That includes making their own medical decisions.
Fair go .. but ‘Singapore should assert its independence and protect the individual rights of its people. That includes making their own medical decisions.’ ..
That would then be at the expense of others. It sounds like you are a quite robust / healthy individual. The Singaporeans have decided (based on representative democracy) that the best path forward .. for now .. rightly or wrongly is to take their approach and not to allow individuals to uniterally make ‘medical’ decisions (I would call them public health decisions or public safety decisions) that adversely affect the greater populous. I am not saying they are right or wrong but they are getting exactly what they have voted for.
I need to ponder more about your assertion that if we would have collectively – as a planet – let this run for 2 months everything would be done with by now. A big complex puzzle .. I would suggest it is not quite that simple and that like most things the rich, strong, priviliged would have come out fine and others would have (as they are now) suffered greatly but I can’t say with any confidence.
As an aside the 1-2% fatality rate has never concerned me for the general population .. as others have noted on this blog Influenza is probably not far off that some years! It is the much higher rates in vulnerable groups that has always been my worry. That said, I am keen for Australia in particular (and NZ) to get things going more and push forward with a risk on appetite.