Covid-19 crisis Removal of "Stay Home Notice"
My friend agreed with the new measures that will be taken under the new approach of "living with covid" but strongly disagree with the removal of the Stay Home Notice (SHN) for incoming travelers.

He said that this decision is risky and will lead to a large increase in infections and may overwhelm the hospitals.

I disagree with my friend. 

I believe that the ministers and the panel of experts had studied the SHN implemented for 16 months. They must have concluded that it is safe to remove the SHN requirement.

I estimated that several tens of thousand people had been placed on the SHN during the past 16 months and probably one or two hundred infections might have been discovered during the SHN. 

I suspect that most of the cases discovered during the incubation period are mild and are not likely to spread in the community.

We should continue to carry out the covid test on all incoming travelers and quarantine those that are infected. 

We can take the risk that a few of the travelers will develop the infection during the incubation period. They are not likely to cause much harm. I do not expect that the situation will get out of control. 

If we continue with SHN, it is likely that most people will avoid traveling  to Singapore, as they have to spend a few thousand dollars to stay in the hotel and have to "waste" 14 to 21 days of their time under restriction.

This requirement will delay the opening up of the travel industry and the economy.

I am sure that the ministers will monitor the new covid cases closely. If there is indeed a large increase in infection and hospitalization, the ministers can reverse the decision. 

I support the decision to remove the SHN. 

Tan Kin Lian

 

Add Comment

---