4 COVID-19 Cases Today (19 Nov); All Are Imported Again

By
George Yang
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2/3 into November and most of the cases are still imported cases.

Today (19 Nov), as of 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has preliminarily confirmed 4 new cases of COVID-19 infection.

Once again, they’re all imported.

This brings the total number of cases in Singapore to 58,139.

Based on yesterday’s number, the number of new cases in the community has remained extremely low, with no new cases in the past week.

8 People Who Came to S’pore Under Investigation for Making False Declarations in SHN Arrangements

The police are now investigating eight people for making false declarations in SHN arrangements when returning to Singapore.

Four of them are Singaporeans, two are permanent residents and the remaining two are long-term pass holders.

The eight travellers had arrived back in Singapore from South Korea and Thailand from 5 Nov to 8 Nov 2020.

Opting Out Of SHN At Dedicated Facilities

Since 4 Nov, travellers arriving from South Korea and Thailand are allowed to serve their SHN at their home (or place of residence) instead of dedicated facilities.

However, it comes with a few T&Cs attached:

  • the traveller has not travelled to any other country or regions in the past 14 days prior to coming back to Singapore
  • the traveller is staying at his or her residential address alone, or with household members who are also serving SHN with the same travel history and duration of SHN (read: the entire family travelled together)

Prior to their arrival in Singapore, all eight travellers opted out of serving their SHN at dedicated facilities and indicated that they fit all of the criteria.

Lies Uncovered

Singapore takes a staunch stance against breaching of Covid-19 measures, and SHN is no difference.

ICA will conduct checks on travellers placed on SHN, and methods include house visits, calling or via WhatsApp.

When officers checked on the eight travellers, it was found that the travellers were staying with household members who were not serving SHN.

All eight travellers were then sent to dedicated facilities to serve out their SHN and their household members were placed on SHN too.

Penalties

Under the Infectious Diseases Act and its regulations, travellers who are found to have breached SHN can be fined up to $10,000, jailed up to six months, or both.

As for the four non-Singaporeans, ICA will relook at their immigration status again should they be proven guilty.

This could lead to revoking their PR status, cancellation or reduction in duration for their re-entry permit and long-term passes.

In other words, don’t play play with Covid-19.

It was emphasised that strict adherence to the SHN and Covid-19 measures is needed to protect the local community from another wave of Covid-19 infections even as Singapore continues to open up to more countries.

While Hong Kong is the first country we have an Air Travel Bubble arrangement with, travel experts in Singapore are of the opinion that these few countries could be next.

A minister had also announced that Singapore will be on the lookout for more partners in setting up travel bubbles and there are rumours that Singapore is now courting Taiwan.

On a separate note, here is the latest Covid-19 vaccine news you might be interested in.

Featured Image: Nawadoln / Shutterstock.com

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George Yang
Email: [email protected]