Why Singapore isn’t singling China out

Singapore’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung told parliament on Monday that the government had not imposed any new restrictions on travelers from China.

Mr Ong said the government was “sharply aware” of some Singaporeans who fear the influx of visitors from China could lead to an increase in infections.

But he said travel between Singapore and China was “very low”, with less than 1,000 people arriving from China every day.

“There are currently 38 flights a week from China to Singapore, compared to about 400 before Covid-19,” he said.

Ong acknowledged that new, more dangerous variants could emerge from China as the virus spreads to a population of 1.4 billion, but said that so far this has not happened. I was.

Ong said Singapore is monitoring this through the non-profit GISAID, which has obtained virus sequencing data from authorities in major Chinese cities and provinces, including Beijing, Shanghai and Sichuan, and that GISAID is processed at the Singapore office of

“There are gaps in the data,” Ong said, adding, “So far, the data show that the outbreak in China is caused by a well-known variant that is widespread in other parts of the world. ‘, i.e. BA.5.2. And BF.7.

So far, more than a dozen countries have announced new rules for visitors from China. But Mr Ong said Singapore had not done so because it already had effective border measures in place.

“Many countries have lifted all border measures,” he said. “Singapore…just because we anticipated these risks, we took appropriate steps.”

He said “many Singaporeans forget that”, but all travelers must be fully vaccinated or test negative for Covid before entering the country, and this is due to Spain’s This is the same requirement recently announced for travelers from China.

South Korea reports that up to 80% of its imported cases came from China, while Ong said that in December, less than 5% of Singapore’s imported cases (around 200) came from China. said it was. 50%”

In the same month, seven imported cases became seriously ill, and only one was infected from China.

“Most of them were Singaporeans returning from these countries and regions,” he said. “These are not big numbers, so the impact on our healthcare system was very small.”

The government’s ‘greatest concern’ is the emergence of new, more dangerous strains that could escape vaccine protection – the ‘nightmare strain’ [that] We can pretty much go back to the drawing board,” says Ong.

In that case, “until a new and effective vaccine is developed, measures such as strict border controls, quarantines for travelers and social restrictions, including limits on group sizes, may need to be reversed.”

He said Singapore would remain connected to a “global surveillance system” to monitor this.

Ong said another key concern was protecting Singapore’s healthcare system. He said infectious diseases were the government’s main concern in the early stages of the pandemic, but now that vaccines have been rolled out, the focus is now on severe infections.

He said 60% of those over the age of 18 have been vaccinated by the end of 2022.

“The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units has been in the low single digits for the last 30 days,” he said. “Thus, with widespread vaccination, Covid-19 can be treated as endemic.”

Ong questions the validity of some travel rules imposed on Chinese tourists.

1. In addition to being “too late because travelers are already within your borders,” PCR tests on arrival are highly sensitive and “have seen a large number of positives from countries experiencing or just experiencing big waves.” It means “get an example”. Because recovered travelers can release dead virus fragments for weeks.
2. Drainage test from aircraft The flights from China to Singapore are not that long, so solid waste has limited uses.
3. Pre-departure test “Can help… [to] Reducing the number of imported infections”, but with less travel between Singapore and China “further limiting the number of imported infections”.

Ong added that if Singapore tested all travelers coming from China, it would raise questions about travelers from other regions contributing to more infections and severe cases.

“Furthermore, by triggering [pre-departure tests] For travelers from parts of the world experiencing high infection numbers, are we contributing to the international precedent of imposing testing on travelers from countries experiencing waves of infections? ”

Mr Ong added: “How will other countries treat travelers from Singapore when we encounter another wave of infections?”

Singapore seems to be staying in the favor of the Chinese government and its residents. Rein said Chinese tourists are heading not only to Thailand but also to Singapore because “both countries welcome us.”

Singapore Airlines resumed passenger service from Singapore to Beijing in late December. First, the service runs him only twice a month.

However, flights between Singapore and China are “less than 10% of the number of pre-Covid flights” and account for about 1.5% of all flights at Singapore’s Changi Airport, Singapore’s transport minister S. Iswaran said on Monday. said to

Overall, passenger numbers and weekly flights at Changi Airport have returned to 80% of pre-pandemic levels, he said.

“Singapore and Chinese airlines have applied to operate more flights between the two countries,” Iswaran said, adding that the government is taking a “deliberate and coordinated” approach to restoring air connections with China. He added that he was taking it.

Currently, more than 60% of inbound travelers from China are Singapore citizens, permanent residents or long-term pass holders, Iswaran said.

“China’s opening up to the world is great news and we are looking forward to it,” Mr Ong said, adding that the government would cautiously adjust travel volumes “at least until the wave of infections has clearly subsided in China.” He then added: