Last COVID-19 Cluster Has Been Closed; First Time S’pore Has No Active Cluster Since Outbreak Began

By
Shawn Ambrose
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This might be foreign to you, but I have some good news.

Reader: Good news? I don’t understand.

It basically means news that makes you feel happy and optimistic about the future of humanity.

Reader: I’m sorry, I understand all those words separately, but put together they don’t make sense in 2020.

Well, it’s been a tough year, but we’re finally getting the news we craved for months.

Last COVID-19 Cluster Has Been Closed; First Time S’pore Has No Active Cluster Since Outbreak Began

For the first time since the pandemic began, Singapore has zero active Covid-19 clusters.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced the closure of the last active cluster at Cassia @ Penjuru dormitory on Tuesday (24 Nov) after 28 consecutive days with no new infection linked to it.

This is the first time since 3 Feb that we’ve had zero active clusters, MOH said.

Before that, however, clusters were popping up all over the place like pimples on a teenager’s face.

Clusters, Clusters Everywhere

On 23 Jan, the first Covid-19 case in Singapore was reported, and everything went downhill from there.

The first cluster was reported on 4 Feb at the Yong Thai Hang Medical Hall, a Chinese medicine shop that catered to tourists.

Then, clusters were detected at several churches, the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and the Seletar Aerospace Heights construction site.

The most famous cluster is perhaps the dinner event at SAFRA Jurong, which had 47 people linked to it, including several elderly people.

Despite all the clusters, it seemed like we were doing well, compared to other countries, at least.

But then we discovered we had neglected migrant workers in dormitories, and that there were clusters in several of them.

This led to a huge surge of infections, which at one point peaked at more than 1,000 a day.

As a result, drastic measures had to be implemented.

Circuit Breaker

These are two words that will never fail to send shivers down a Singaporean’s spine.

The country entered the circuit breaker on 7 April, hoping to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which threatened to run riot.

While it certainly worked, Singaporeans will never forget the social isolation, despair, and lack of bubble tea that we had to endure for those two months.

All Dormitories Cleared

Then, we started getting some good news.

In Aug, the Ministry of Manpower declared that all dormitories were cleared of Covid-19, after months of rigorous testing and isolation.

Local infections started to dwindle, and we started seeing a light at the end of the MRT tunnel once again.

Fast forward to November, and we’ve had no locally transmitted infections for two whole weeks, which is certainly something to celebrate.

Our only source of infections at the moment is visitors from abroad.

More Good News: Two Effective Vaccines Found

But there’s more good news.

Two Covid-19 vaccines in the US have been found to be over 90% effective in clinical trials, paving the way for mass inoculation programmes across the world.

But Pfizer and Moderna have developed Covid-19 vaccines that are 95% effective.

A mass vaccination programme could begin in the US early next month, once a vaccine is approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Countries around the world are also working out plans for global distribution as other vaccines are being developed.

Reader: What’s this warm feeling I have inside?

That’s called happiness, dear reader. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Featured Image: Google Maps

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]