COVID-19 II: 49 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore; Mustafa Centre among 3 new clusters identified (2 Apr)

[Maxus-MIFA9]

3 minutes ago, yishunite said:

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2020/03/19/singaporeans-stuck-in-morocco-due-to-sudden-announcement-of-international-flight-suspension/

Singaporeans stuck in Morocco due to sudden announcement of international flight suspension

Srsly i have no sympathy for these ppl... give our mfa headache because so pigheaded still wanna go holiday during global health emergency (since jan 31) or pandemic (since march)

Knowing COVID-19 suitation worldwide isn't doing well and she wants to travel.

[Silver_blade]

2 minutes ago, Picnic06-Biante15 said:

Knowing COVID-19 suitation worldwide isn't doing well and she wants to travel.

Unfortunately, a lot of ppl still go on holidays cos of cheap tickets and accomodations. Sometimes we think we are very smart and everyone else in other part of the world are stupid.

We will have a lot of families returning from neighbouring countries this week. sigh.... 

[Watwheels]

I think we can always learn from others like S.Korea if our situation really turn for the worse.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/covid-19-coronavirus-singapore-success-measures-contact-tracing-12551722

Quote

South Korea, however, chose a different model. Even at the height of the epidemic in Daegu, the city was not locked down. Instead, testing was ramped up rapidly, including setting up make-shift test centres near areas with many infections and novel drive-through testing.

In just under three weeks, South Korea established a network of laboratories that could perform up to 20,000 tests a day, allowing for earlier diagnosis and isolation of cases, with mild infections isolated at home rather than in the hospital.

Other social distancing interventions were more restrictive, including school closures and cancellation of large events.

 

[Atrecord]

2 hours ago, Weez911 said:

For the past two weeks, Hong Kong resident Larry Salibra has been trying to convince his parents based in the American state of Florida to stay with him, fearing that authorities and people in the United States are not taking the coronavirus threat seriously enough – but the older Salibras, in their 70s, felt the risk of air travel was too great.

Salibra, the 38-year-old founder of tech firm New Internet Labs, said Hong Kong authorities and residents had taken the coronavirus threat “very seriously” since January. While Washington’s tone has changed in recent days, he said “the US public at large from their behaviour appears dismissive of the risk”.

“Given that my parents are in the age range that has a much higher fatality rate, it seemed to me that the best place to be would be in a place like Hong Kong, Singapore or Taiwan,” said Salibra, adding that hospitals in the special administrative region seemed better equipped to treat patients.

In the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, a 48-year-old businessman who only wanted to give his name as Widjaja dispatched his family of 12 to Singapore on Sunday evening – just the city state announced expanded travel restrictions, including a requirement that from late Monday, arrivals from Southeast Asian nations would have to self-quarantine for 14 days.

“We are concerned that things might get worse,” Widjaja said, noting that Indonesia had 227 cases and 19 deaths – a number experts say is not a true picture given the country’s low testing rates. “We have confidence in the Singapore health care system. It is one of the top in the world.”

Indeed, more reports of foreigners seeing cities like Singapore and Hong Kong as safe harbours from the coronavirus are emerging, as global infections soar to more than 193,000 and the epicentres of contagion shift to countries like Italy and Britain – which have more than 31,000 and 1,900 cases respectively.

Two men in face masks chat while standing on a Kowloon promenade overlooking Victoria Harbour and the skyline of Hong Kong Island. Photo: AFPTwo men in face masks chat while standing on a Kowloon promenade overlooking Victoria Harbour and the skyline of Hong Kong Island. 
Two men in face masks chat while standing on a Kowloon promenade overlooking Victoria Harbour and the skyline of Hong Kong Island. 

Hong Kong and Singapore have both seen a spike in imported cases. The Lion City, which has 266 cases, has seen 70 per cent of its new cases in the past week come from abroad. In Hong Kong, which has 181 cases, 70 per cent of new cases over the past two weeks were residents or foreigners with a history of travel, with some cases not declaring pre-existing symptoms upon arrival.

Hong Kong Executive Council member Dr Lam Ching-choi on Wednesday told a radio programme that mandatory self-quarantine measures for all arrivals to the city should deter foreign visitors, but the government was monitoring whether people were coming to the city just to get more effective coronavirus treatment.

Dr Asok Kurup, an infectious disease physician at Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital, said on a daily basis there were about 15 to 20 people who wanted to be tested for the coronavirus. He said these people – most of whom were from Indonesia, while there were also Singaporeans and other foreigners – were largely healthy and without symptoms, so they did not meet the criteria to be tested.

Singapore currently only tests those whom it categorises as suspected cases, which include people who have been to areas with surging infection rates or those suffering from pneumonia or severe respiratory infections.
Asok said that even if they insisted and said they would pay for a test, doctors would not be able to perform one as the test kits were government-subsidised and controlled.

Testing and treatment were initially free for foreigners and locals alike, but as an increasing number of new cases involved foreigners, Singapore last week reversed a decision to waive treatment fees for short-term visitors. The government had previously said the cost of producing each kit was S$270 (US$189).

Dr Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious disease expert at Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, said he had been getting about five calls a day from patients all over the world – mostly from Indonesia and Cambodia – asking to be tested for Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

“Everyone has so much fear, and fear can [cause panic, leading us to] use our tests [on healthy people],” he said. “We have been very judicious in our use so there is no issue with supply.”

Hong Kong Doctors Union President Henry Yeung Chiu-fat said, like in Singapore, patients had to exhibit symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection or have a fever before they could be tested.

This applied to Hongkongers and foreigners alike, he said, adding that he was of the view that foreigners saw Hong Kong as a safe place to be in.
Almost every resident in the city wears a face mask in public, and there has been a visible move towards hygienic practices and social distancing, with hand sanitiser available at MTR stations and many offices still allowing staff to work from home.

Hong Kong on Thursday announced the introduction of a red travel alert covering all countries, which imposes quarantine or medical surveillance on all arrivals into the city.

Singapore, meanwhile, has conducted detailed contact tracing of all patients and released information on where confirmed cases live and work, in a bid to get others to avoid those areas, while firmly enforcing quarantine orders.
Jen Lasher, a 37-year-old lawyer who is based in the city of Thousand Oaks, California, said Singapore’s use of technology to trace and contain coronavirus cases made her want to move her family there in mid-February.

She has since decided it is now “too risky” to travel from Los Angeles International Airport, where large numbers of travellers transit. “At some point even with the best containment strategy, I would imagine the influx [of travellers to Singapore] would be too great and they could want to ration care for foreigners to take care of their own.”

Indeed, with residents of Singapore and Hong Kong who study, work or have travelled abroad rushing to head home, public health experts warn they could see a rise in infections despite having been able to keep the disease at manageable levels so far.

A Singapore-based Malaysian, who wished to be known as J, brought forward her 15-year-old son’s flight from London to this month.
“He was due to be home for the Easter holidays but we decided to take him out early, seeing the current situation in Britain,” said J, who is self-employed. “The British government’s approach to containing the virus is not very reassuring.”

Paulina, an Indonesian entrepreneur who only wanted to give her first name, said she had arrived in Singapore from Jakarta on March 6, just days after Indonesia announced its first cases. The trip was not planned but had given her peace of mind, the 29-year-old said.

“I flew to Singapore as an act of disease prevention. I chose Singapore because it is geographically nearer to Indonesia, and I have friends and a sister here as a support system.”

Asok, the infectious disease physician, said the influx of travellers entering the city state before travel restrictions were tightened could set Singapore up for a new wave of infections.

“We are going to be prepared to see a bit of an increase and spike in cases over the next two weeks because, as with the surge in tourists, there will certainly be cases among them,” he said.

This comes as some countries with a significant number of cases, such as the US, are excluded from Singapore’s current travel ban.

“It’s a moving target because the US is starting to show more and more cases,” Asok said. “We would probably have to deal with the surge and most of the hospitals even in the private sector are ready to accept cases and we have ramped up infrastructure in that way.”

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/healt...-safe-harbours

This is infuriating. Is the Govt so hard-up for money (and maybe diplomatic concerns), that it's still allowing such foreigners in???

We need to stop even just one more from coming in to overload our system, and immediately put in a law to change all existing short-term visitors to restrict to maybe 7 days, after which they have to leave SG. Anyone flouting the law should be rounded up and sent back.

[Blueray]

Coronavirus: China’s Wuhan reports no new infections for first time, imported cases surge

Quote

BEIJING (REUTERS) – The central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the country’s coronavirus outbreak, reported no new infections for the first time, while imported cases surged by a record, led by new infections in the capital of Beijing. 

The new imported infections also accounted for all of the new confirmed cases in mainland China, placing more pressure on authorities to screen travellers at key travel hubs. 

Mainland China had 34 new confirmed cases on Wednesday, the country’s National Health Commission said, more than doubling from 13 cases a day earlier. 

Of the 34 imported infections, Beijing accounted for 21 cases, a daily record for the city. 

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/coronavirus-china-reports-no-new-domestic-virus-cases-for-first-time-but-34-imported

some good news.

[Silver_blade]

2 minutes ago, yishunite said:

We also getting a lot of our overseas scholars coming home. We must welcome them back. Hopefully they learn the kind of sacrifices normal ppl made and keeps them humble for life

It is the right things to do. No other way to handle that. We cannot sent them entry to their own country. No one own any one a favour. 

[Thaiyotakamli]

So childish lol

 

[Yewheng]

11 hours ago, Freeder said:

Let’s face the fact ...End of the day, GDP matters most....

Sgp well known for being kiasu cum kiasi , still pondering to lock down or not.. Really CCB..

Not just gdp numbers la.. In fact jobs at sake.. This is more important then gdp.. So whatever our government does is try the best not to affect business too much that they suffer Huge losses in long run and need to sack a lot of people or business went bankrupt.. 

[Yewheng]

56 minutes ago, Kyrios said:

This type have to send RSAF C130 to airlift out liao...or send special chartered flight from SIA...

If there are enough numbers to do that.. Maybe say if there are 40 or 50 people stuck over there.. Then yeah one of the option is charterted flight back sg.. 

Edited March 19, 2020 by Yewheng

[Lethalstrike]

7 hours ago, Jellandross said:

Jurong cluster fk: Eh aunties uncles you all still want to attend the dinner not scared meh? Aiyah.. paid for dinner already of course go jiak lah.. Won't so unlucky one lah. 

March holiday merry makers: Eh bros and sis you all still want to proceed with your holiday travels not scared meh? Aiyah.. Paid for booking already of course go enjoy lah.. Won't so unlucky one lah. 

And so on and so on..... 

Pls ban idiocy. 

 

Now they are paying the price for idiocy. 

[Kezg1]

12 hours ago, RadX said:

Well , somebody said might as well go green le since no diff

 

wtfffff 

...that CB mouth.....GUn idiot..useless moron...iirc

Edited March 19, 2020 by Kezg1

[Xers007]

13 hours ago, Jellandross said:

When frontline staff are risking their lives everyday, and you have clowns like these... Truly ccb. 

"We are more afraid of God," one of the organisers, Mustari Bahranuddin, told Reuters, when asked about the risk of participants spreading the virus at the event in Gowa in Indonesia's province of South Sulawesi.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/indonesia-covid-19-muslim-pilgrims-gathering-12552630

See who can save them when their hospital dont have the capacity to admit them... we will see this bugger knelt down outside the hospital begging instead. Just dont come saying we are open for help like what their leader did after shit happens..

[Maxus-MIFA9]

@kobayashiGT

Thanks you very much

Yes the links are back.

 

[Maxus-MIFA9]

Now can see USA have 9249 cases and 149 deaths.

Let's see how Trump eating his own words where he said everything was under controlled ...

Edited March 19, 2020 by Picnic06-Biante15

[Freeder]

45 minutes ago, Yewheng said:

Not just gdp numbers la.. In fact jobs at sake.. This is more important then gdp.. So whatever our government does is try the best not to affect business too much that they suffer Huge losses in long run and need to sack a lot of people or business went bankrupt.. 

At the expense of Health?

I think it’s currently spiraling out of control soon (I hope I’m dead wrong)if we still dun close our legs ASAP..

Money can earn back , health once lost is forever...

[Carbon82]

UK cancelled 'A' level exam liao... Will our kids in Singapore be affected in the coming months?! I hope not (my son is his taking 'A' level this year).

A Levels and GCSE exams will not take place in May and June as UK schools close due to coronavirus outbreak

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that the Government would ensure pupils due to sit exams this summer would get the qualifications they need "in time".

Speaking during the daily Downing Street press conference, the PM said: “I don’t want to go into detail about when and how those qualifications will be administered, but it will be done fairly and in order to protect their interests.”

Mr Johnson said the Government would try to keep the duration of school closures to an “absolute minimum” and intended to “get things going again as fast as we can”.

His comments came after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson confirmed in the Commons that exams will not take place in the current academic year after announcing that all UK schools will close as of Monday.

He added that the Government would not be publishing performance tables this year either. 

“We will work with the sector and Ofqual to ensure that children get the qualifications that they need," he said. 

“My department is working closely with local authorities, representatives of early years schools and headteachers, regional schools, commissioners and bodies such as Ofsted and Ofqual about how to deliver this change as effectively as possible.

“And we will do whatever is necessary to support local authorities, schools and teachers through the weeks and months ahead."

The Education Secretary also told the Commons that the Government would be making sure that every child "gets the proper recognition that they deserve and we will obviously update the House".

He said they are working closely with Ofqual to have a detailed set of measures that makes sure no child is unfairly penalised.

Mr Williamson went on to say said a “means of redress” will be put in place for GCSE and A-Level students to query their grades.

Labour’s Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) asked: “As mum of a year 11, are his exams now indefinitely postponed?

“And for all his cohort, can I ask, will their sixth form admission, because those aren’t automatic nowadays, now be based not on actual but on predicted grades in a kind of mystic meg kind of way?”

Mr Williams replied: “What I outlined is the fact that we will be ensuring that all children who have done so much working towards their exams, both in GCSE and A-Level, will get a fair system in terms of their grades.

“We do recognise that there will be sometimes disagreement over that, so making sure that we have a proper and robust system and means of redress for those children is absolutely vital.

“And that is something that we’re going to have in place with Ofqual, and we’ve already had those discussions.”

In a statement, England’s exams regulator Ofqual, said: “We welcome the certainty that the Secretary of State’s decision not to hold exams this summer provides in these challenging circumstances.

“We will now work urgently with the Department for Education to work through the detail of this decision and to provide more information as soon as possible.”

Clare Marchant, Ucas chief executive, said: “We will be working through the implications of today’s announcements for students, teachers, universities and colleges over the coming days, which was one of the scenarios we were planning for.

“Flexibility within the admission process will be enhanced and extended to deal with the coronavirus outbreak and the announcement that there will be no exams this year.

“We are confident that our team and systems are ready to adapt throughout the spring and summer.

“We will continue to work closely with colleagues across the education sector including Ofqual, the Department for Education, the Scottish government, Office for Students and Universities UK.

“As soon as any changes are confirmed, students will be emailed to explain how this might affect them, so it’s important they keep their email address up to date in Track.

“We will also communicate further and extend support to all of customers during these challenging times.”

The shock announcement came after the PM had said on several occasions this week that he was very reluctant to close schools. 

The PM said that schools would now close as a way of trying to flatten the upwards curve of new Covid-19 cases in the UK as the situation continues to evolve. 

It followed Monday's announcement where he introduced new measures to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, including urging the public to avoid all non-essential social contact.

The Government also advised that all over-70s self-isolate at home and people should avoid venues like pubs, theatres and restaurants. 

[Xers007]

6 minutes ago, Picnic06-Biante15 said:

Now can see USA have 9249 cases and 149 deaths.

Let's see how Trump eating his own words where he said everything was under controlled ...

that dog just like to bark...

[Civic2000]

Look at the 2 TABLES showing the increase  of COVID-19 cases in less than 24 hours apart .  While China reported no new cases of COVID-19 today *, the cases escalating in Europe and US seems to be out of control.   The total number of case in Italy within 1 month is more 35K plus , while total number of case in China over a period of 3 moths is 80K.   The deaths in Italy within a short period of one month is about to reach 3000, while the deaths of 3245 in China actually occurred over a period of 3 months.  Cases in Spain & Germany had exceeded 10K, while cases in US & France are about to reach 10K.

It’s high time for SG to ban all flights from Europe and US so as to stop the import cases of COVID_19 from these countries.

 

*The "New" columns for China display the previous day changes (as China reports after the day is over). For all other countries, the "New" columns display the changes for the current day while still in progress.

Edited March 19, 2020 by Civic2000