12 COVID-19 Cases Today (13 Nov) & They’re All Imported

Do you know that there’s always going to be at least one Friday the 13th every year? And this year, there are two: one in March and one this month?

Just a recap here: back on 13 March 2020, Singapore hit the 200 mark with 13 new cases, in which 9 are imported.

And for the next Friday the 13th, it’s a tad same same but different.

As of 12pm today (13 November), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has preliminarily confirmed 12 new cases of COVID-19 infection.

All of them are imported.

This brings the total number of cases in Singapore to 58,114.

Based on yesterday’s numbers, the number of new cases in the community has remained low, with a total of 1 case in the past week, which is currently unlinked.

Travel Bubble With Taiwan OTW?

We all know about the Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble, but do you know that we could be looking at a Singapore-Taiwan travel bubble, too?

On 11 Nov 2020, the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) reported that officials from Singapore are actively seeking discussions with Taiwan on an air travel bubble arrangement.

At a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, Lin Chia-lung, Taiwan’s Minister of Transportation and Communications, was asked if there is a possibility of air travel bubble arrangements given the light of Pfizer’s progress in creating a Covid-19 vaccine.

Lin reportedly said that officials from Singapore have been “very active” in seeking a discussion about a possible travel bubble with Taiwan government agencies.

He added that Singapore’s trade representative also wanted to meet with him in the near future.

Singapore doesn’t have an embassy in Taiwan but has a trade office in Taipei instead.

If Taiwan Maintains Low Risk Of Infections, It Might Happen

BCC went on to add that if Taiwan was to maintain a low risk of infections, the travel bubble might become a reality.

Which is true since Singapore has a “risk-factor” criteria in place when it comes to arranging special travel arrangements.

Taiwan held an exemplary record when it comes to stomping out Covid-19 transmissions and on 29 Oct 2020, recorded 200 continuous days of zero cases.

Taiwan had taken decisive actions earlier during the pandemic, even when Covid-19 wasn’t acknowledged as one.

It also practices world-class contact tracing measures and imposes fines of up to NT$1 million (S$47,700) on those who break quarantine rules.

Based on the Google tracker, Taiwan recorded 589 Covid-19 cases and 7 deaths.

Featured Image: Jerome Quek / Shutterstock.com