S'pore on heightened alert as Changi cluster grows

Singapore is on heightened alert as Covid-19 cases spike - a situation replicated elsewhere in Asia.

Of the 24 community cases the Ministry of Health (MOH) reported yesterday, 19 were linked to the Changi Airport cluster, which is now the largest active cluster with 46 cases. The cluster at Tan Tock Seng Hospital has 44 cases.

The last time Singapore reported 24 daily cases in the community was on July 11 last year.

The 34 new cases yesterday, including 10 that were imported, take Singapore's total tally to 61,453, with 11 active clusters.

MOH said last night that the number of new cases in the community has increased to 71 in the past week, from 48 in the week before. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased, to 15 from seven cases, in the same period.

Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Maliki Osman, in separate Facebook posts yesterday, urged Singaporeans to reconsider Hari Raya Aidilfitri plans for the weekend and reduce house visits, calling the latest situation worrying.

Changi Airport stepped up measures yesterday, closing its doors to the public and allowing access only to travellers and some workers.

MOH added last night that it would extend free Covid-19 testing for all those who visited Changi Airport Terminal 3 from May 1, while all travellers who had been to Vietnam in the past 21 days will be required to serve a 21-day stay-home notice in dedicated facilities, a move that takes immediate effect after a recent increase in cases reported in the country.

Experts told The Straits Times that the current situation was a potential tipping point.

The same point was made by Education Minister Lawrence Wong, co-chair of the multi-ministry task force handling Covid-19, on Tuesday. He told Parliament that Singapore was on a knife-edge, and community case numbers can go either way over the next few weeks.

Yio Chu Kang Primary School made arrangements to have all pupils put on home-based learning for three days after a Primary 1 pupil tested positive on Wednesday, said the Ministry of Education yesterday.

It also said that physical lessons at Victoria Junior College will resume next Monday. Students, staff, vendors and visitors tested negative in a testing operation after a student was confirmed to have been infected on May 7.

Meanwhile, a surge in coronavirus cases across Asia has seen over 5.9 million new infections in the past two weeks, more than in all other regions combined, the International Federation of the Red Cross said on Wednesday.

Seven out of 10 countries globally that are seeing their infection numbers double the fastest are in Asia and the Pacific, it added.

The number of infections in India has doubled in under two months to more than 23 million, the Red Cross said in a statement.

Yesterday, India recorded more than 4,000 Covid-19 deaths for a second straight day, while infections stayed below 400,000.

In Taiwan, an increase in cases appears to have spurred a large number of people to get vaccinated. A record 11,018 were vaccinated on Wednesday after 23 confirmed cases on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thailand saw a record 4,887 cases yesterday, of which 2,835 were logged in two Bangkok prisons. The country's overall death toll has now gone past 500 after 32 new deaths.