As of 12pm on 21 Aug 2020, the Ministry of Health (MOH) preliminarily reported 117 new Covid-19 cases today.
This brings the total number of cases in Singapore to 56,216.
There are 6 community cases: 3 Singaporeans or PRs and 3 work pass holders.
13 imported cases were also reported today and they were all placed on SHN upon arrival in Singapore.
8 in 10 of Imported Cases Since S’pore Re-Opened Its Borders Are From India and the Philippines
According to ST, 8 in 10 imported cases detected since 19 June 2020 are from India or the Philippines.
There are two reasons for this.
The first is that both countries are currently experiencing a spike in Covid-19 infections.
According to Worldometer, India has more than 2.9 million Covid-19 cases with over 54,000 deaths.
The Philippines has more than 178,000 cases with over 2,800 deaths.
The second is that people from these countries make up a huge bulk of our foreign workforce.
A Small Percentage Of Travellers
The Ministry of Health (MOH) also gave some figures that might put your mind at ease
While we have seen a definite increase in the number of imported cases being reported on a daily basis, it’s actually a small percentage of the number of travellers.
Singapore has received more 83,000 travellers into the country via the sea, the land and the air between 18 Jun and 6 August.
During the same period, 152 imported cases were reported.
They also managed to catch all of these cases during their mandatory Stay-Home-Notice period before they were released into the general Singapore population.
Why Only Swab After 14 Days?
Now, if you’re a conspiracy theorist, you’ll probably wonder if the authorities are trying to make a quick buck by forcing travellers into staying at dedicated facilities and charging them for it.
If not, why not just swab them at the start and be done with it?
That’s because the coronavirus has an average incubation period of five to six days, MOH explains.
So if a person was to be infected with Covid-19 just a day before entering Singapore, he could test negative and waltz off to the nearest coffee shop and start infecting everyone in a “Covid-Party“.
So to be safe, they’re all kept somewhere out of the way for 14 days and tested at the end of their stay.
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