However, since the case was recorded at Changi Airport at the end of April, the COVID-19 wave broke out again in the lion island nation. Since April 26, the country has recorded more than 200 community infections. This number in March was only 9 cases. From the initial infection, Changi Airport is now the largest outbreak in Singapore with more than 70 cases. Singapore recorded more than 200 community COVID-19 cases since April 26. (Photo: Straits Times) Mr. Ong Ye Kung – co-chair of the Singapore Inter-Ministerial Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control said that the second wave F0 could be transit travelers. “Most of the cases at the airport are concentrated in the area with the flow of passengers from high-risk countries including Southeast Asia, in the baggage and immigration control area. In that area, The staff went to have lunch and dinner at the food court and commercial service area in the second basement of T3 station, from which we determined that they had infected people when they came here.” this man said. After detecting the cluster of infections, Singapore immediately blocked Changi Airport. But medical experts in this country believe that the virus has spread to the community before the blockade order. Facing the complicated epidemic situation, Singapore decided to further tighten social distancing measures from May 16 to June 13. According to the new regulations, the number of people allowed to gather will be reduced from 5 people to 2 people, each family can only receive 2 guests a day. Employees are forced to work from home, restaurants and public food centers will temporarily suspend on-site dining, serving only take-out food. Shopping centers further reduce the number of people entering and leaving. Attractions, exhibitions, museums and libraries will reduce their capacity to 25% from the current 50%. Similar to Singapore, another anti-epidemic model is Taiwan are also struggling to cope with the second wave of COVID-19. The island has gone 253 days without recording any domestic infections, but now the number of COVID-19 cases is increasing sharply. In 2020, Taiwan, although bordering China, recorded less than 1,000 cases. Guardian call this an extraordinary number. However, on May 14, Taiwan’s health authorities reported 29 “domestic” cases. This number increased to 180 on May 15, 206 on May 16, 333 on May 17 and 240 today. In just one week, the number of COVID-19 cases in Taiwan increased by more than 40%. Medical staff prepare to test a person suspected of having COVID-19 in Taiwan. (Photo: Reuters) Cracks began to appear in the anti-epidemic wall of Taiwan at the end of April when 2 pilots of China Airlines were confirmed with COVID-19. The pilots flew together on a cargo flight to the US and were quarantined at another Novotel upon their return to Taiwan. By early May, dozens of China Airlines pilots, flight attendants, their relatives and hotel staff were confirmed to have COVID-19. However, before these cases were discovered, some went to restaurants, bars and clubs. These cases led Taiwanese to criticize the government’s decision to reduce the quarantine period for crew members from 5 to 3 days in mid-April. After an investigation, the Novotel hotel was discovered to let a number of quarantined pilots share the same building with regular tourists. During the time when Taiwan stops welcoming foreign guests, Novotel Hotel opens incentive programs to welcome visitors on the island. Dr Chiou Shu-ti, a former health commissioner of Taipei, said authorities were “playing with fire” by easing quarantine requirements. After recording the number of cases skyrocketed, the COVID-19 warning in Taipei and New Taipei was raised to level 3 in a 4-level scale, People must wear masks outside, not to gather outdoors for more than 10 people. Cinemas, sports centres, libraries and entertainment venues were also forced to close. It is not clear how the new drastic measures will help Taiwan and Singapore overcome the new wave of the epidemic. But experts believe it will take weeks or even months for these two places to once again defeat COVID-19.

While the rest of the world struggled to find a way to relax travel restrictions, the two Asian financial centers have been trying for months to open up to tourism. In November 2020, the number of Covid-19 infections in Hong Kong skyrocketed, forcing Singapore and Hong Kong to postpone the “travel bubble”. And now, a new outbreak in Singapore has extinguished hopes of a “travel bubble” once again. “Next time, they should announce the enforcement 24 hours in advance so that Covid-19 does not have time to react,” Wong, 33, joked. The “travel bubble” connecting Singapore and Hong Kong was postponed twice because of the Covid-19 epidemic. Photo: Getty Images. Travel thirst The two city governments carefully drafted detailed criteria and announced new safety regulations to open the border. Many people who want to travel rush to book tickets to secure seats on two scheduled return flights each day. They plan to go to specific places, meet friends. Now again they are disappointed. “Singapore is only a 3.5 hour flight from Hong Kong, but now it feels like the other side of the world.” WSJ quoted Emma Herblot – 42-year-old French expert working for an online payment company in Singapore – lamented. Singapore and Hong Kong have been relatively successful in containing the Covid-19 epidemic and are still applying strict isolation regulations. People returning from anywhere still have to be isolated in concentrated for 2-3 weeks. So many Singaporeans and Hong Kongers have not traveled for more than a year now. Travel blogger Aaron Wong at Changi Airport in February 2020. This is his last trip before the Covid-19 epidemic. Photo: WSJ. Unlike the US or Europe, people stuck in Singapore and Hong Kong don’t have much choice when it comes to commuting. The area of ​​Singapore is only 728 square kilometers, Hong Kong is only slightly larger. Andrew Scott – a 41-year-old editor who works at a Hong Kong media company – said he planned to visit friends in Singapore. “It was fine until around January, I really wanted to go somewhere,” he lamented. I was so excited about the travel bubble plan and then it was all a disappointment.” Last year, Asian tourism experts and officials asserted that the “tourist bubble” was the key to opening the border. They say that two-dimensional “bubbles” will appear first, followed by regional “bubbles”. Some experts envision a giant Asian “travel bubble” consisting of countries that have succeeded in containing the Covid-19 epidemic. The Hong Kong government has used a “travel bubble” to encourage people to get vaccinated in recent weeks. “Great but dull Singapore” Since the beginning of the pandemic, Singapore has recorded more than 61,600 cases of Covid-19 per 5.8 million people and 31 deaths. Meanwhile, Hong Kong recorded 11,800 cases per 7.5 million people and 210 deaths. As the number of infections in Singapore increased, Chitra Karamchandani (30 years old, in Hong Kong) was extremely worried. She has not seen her fiancé for the past 1.5 years because of restrictions on entry to non-citizens. According to the plan, he was supposed to fly to Hong Kong at the end of this month and they will hold a wedding in June. Karamchandani had detailed plans to welcome her fiance, including walking around the city and learning to cook Japanese noodles. The “bubble” burst made her extremely disappointed. “When will the border reopen? We just want to see each other again,” she lamented. Dennison Wee – 26 years old, working in finance in Singapore – hopes his trip to Hong Kong will become an inspiration for him to continue blogging. He has written about journeys through nearly 100 cities around the world. Without a “tourist bubble”, Singaporeans and Hong Kongers are trapped in the city’s small size. Photo: Getty Images. But since March 2020, he has only written a few reviews about hotels within a radius of about 20 km around his apartment. Mr Wee, 26, said: “Singapore is great but it’s dull. We must have only one hill to walk on, a few islands.” To keep himself busy, travel blogger Wong participates in projects to stimulate local tourism. He continued to wait for another 2 weeks until the authorities had a new notice. “All we can do is hope,” Wong said.

Users only take 10 seconds to breathe into the machine and less than 2 minutes later have COVID-19 results. Photo: Straits Times According to the Singapore Straits Times, the device will ensure the safety of movement and inspection at large-scale events. Previously, local health technology company Silver Factory worked with the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Changi Airport and security company Certis to develop the device. Silver Factory’s ventilator, called TracieX, is proven to give results nearly as accurate as a PCR test, which takes only about 2 minutes. Compared with PCR test, the sensitivity rate of TracieX ventilator is above 95% and its specificity is above 99%. Device sensitivity is the ability to confirm which test samples are positive, while specificity is used to confirm a negative. The price for a test with this device is only 20 USD (about 460,000 VND). The device has been tested at NCID, Changi and Certis airport terminals with over 400 participants. During a test at Changi Airport last month, passengers were randomly selected and asked to voluntarily provide breathing samples. “Testing with a ventilator will be less invasive, effective and quick to give results. From there, creating favorable conditions for passengers to fly,” said Mr. Abert Lim – Vice President in charge of passenger experience of Changi Airport Group – said. Silver Factory Technology’s TracieX ventilator uses a sensor chip to identify molecular traces in the breath of patients with COVID-19. Medical staff take a breath sample and put it into the processing device to read the results. Photo: Straits Times Disposable breathing tubes with control features keep infectious material sealed, thus preventing direct contact of these materials with others, such as healthcare workers. The user will breathe into the device for 10 seconds. The device is then inserted into a portable reader for analysis and results. The process is completed in less than 2 minutes. Silver Factory is currently working with Enterprise Singapore under the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry with the ambition to bring this technology overseas.

Health experts say India was caught off guard when the pandemic appeared to be under control this winter – Photo: Reuters On April 22, India recorded 314,835 new Covid-19 infections, the highest number in a day in the world since the outbreak of the pandemic. Days after this information, Canada and Singapore simultaneously decided to stop flights and people entering from the South Asian country. According to Reuters, the Singapore Ministry of Health on April 22 said it would stop accepting admissions – with both short and long-term visas – with a history of moving to India in recent times. Singapore is investigating Covid-19 infections and reinfection cases at a migrant workers’ dormitory and is quarantining more than 1,100 people at the facility. To date, 17 workers here have re-positive for the virus. The Singapore government said the measures to restrict travel with India will help it prevent the risk of infection in migrant labor hostels because there are many people from India. Indian workers at Singapore Changi Airport prepare to board a plane home on June 12, 2002 – Photo: Reuters Also on April 22, Canada announced a ban on direct flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days from 23:30 on the same day to prevent the spread of new Covid-19 variants. Several Canadian provinces have reported cases of new Covid-19 variant from India. Health Canada Minister Patty Hajdu said India currently accounts for 20% of recent air traffic to Canada, but more than 50% of positive tests are detected upon entry. This creates a great risk of infection. Earlier this week, the UK also put India on the “red list”, effective April 23, which banned all flights from the South Asian country, after it recorded 103 cases of infection with a new variant. first discovered in India. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) then advised Americans to “avoid all travel to India”. On Sunday, Hong Kong (China) announced a 14-day ban on passenger flights from India starting April 20. New Zealand also suspended entry for tourists from India earlier this month out of concern about new Covid-19 variants in the billion-pop country. Since the beginning of the pandemic up to now, the total number of Covid infections in India is 15.93 million. The number of deaths recorded on April 22 was 2,104, bringing the total number of deaths from the beginning of the epidemic to 184,657, according to official statistics. India has been caught off guard as the pandemic seems to be under control this winter, health experts say. At that time, the number of new infections a day was only about 10,000 cases and authorities began to relax restrictions, allowing large crowds. According to experts, some new strains of corona virus, especially the double mutation originating from India, are the main cause of the number of new infections in the country soaring.