Covid-19 crisis Stay home notice is illogical, unnecessary and wasteful
Singapore requires incoming travelers to observe a 14 day Stay Home Notice (SHN). They are required to be isolated in a hotel room for 14 days. This is to prevent the spread of the covid virus.

I find this requirement to be illogical, unnecessary and wasteful. Here are my reasons:

a) A person can move about freely in his home country, subject to the safe distancing and masking requirement.

b) If this person travels to Singapore, he (or she) is required to observe the Stay Home Notice. 

c) If he is already infected, he would have spread the virus in his home country. The fact is - he is not spreading the virus.

d) When he enters Singapore, he is already tested for the virus and found to be negative. Indeed, he is less likely to be infected than a local who has not been tested.

Instead of imposing the SHN on all travelers, we can afford to remove this requirement for people who are tested to be negative. 

There is a small risk that this person could be infected and spread the virus. We can afford to take the chance and see if it leads to a serious spread of the virus. If it does, we can reimpose the SHN on all travelers.

It is more likely that there is no spread of the virus, or any spread is not serious. If this is the outcome, we can re-open the borders and revive travel industry. 

To play safe, we should continue to test all incoming travelers for the virus.

We should not continue the 14 day SHN as it is illogical, unnecessary and wasteful.

Tan Kin Lian






 

Add Comment

---