Covid-19 pandemic - mismanagement by PAP government

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'Abuse' of boyfriend/girlfriend category to enter S'pore led to its removal in March: Shanmugam​

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority took action against "dodgy" applications by rescinding approvals and barring travellers from entry.PHOTO: ST FILE

Justin Ong
Political Correspondent

July 26, 2021

SINGAPORE - The abuse of a "boyfriend/girlfriend" category in applying for Vietnamese nationals to come into Singapore as partners of locals resulted in the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) scrapping the category altogether quite quickly, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam on Monday (July 26).
The first case linked to a KTV cluster uncovered on July 12 was a short-term visit pass holder from Vietnam, who had managed to enter Singapore in February via a familial ties lane, sponsored by her Singaporean boyfriend.
The KTV cluster has since grown to more than 230 cases and is linked to an outbreak at Jurong Fishery Port, which in turn has become Singapore's largest community cluster with over 790 infections as at Sunday.
The large number of cases at Jurong Fishery Port led to the Government reimposing a set of tightened restrictions last week.
Mr Shanmugam told Parliament that flexibility was introduced in October last year to allow Singaporeans in relationships with foreign partners to be reunited after a long spell apart due to border restrictions.
In February this year, due to a deteriorating Covid-19 situation in Vietnam, the Government suspended its unilateral opening arrangement with the country and short-term travellers could no longer enter Singapore.

The ICA then began receiving applications such as from a Vietnamese lady with multiple sponsors claiming to be her boyfriend; Singaporean sponsors who applied for multiple girlfriends; sponsors who were already married to someone else; and sponsors who were unable to substantiate their relationship with the travellers, said Mr Shanmugam.
This abuse of the "boyfriend/girlfriend" category led to its subsequent removal in March, with the ICA taking action against "dodgy" applications by rescinding approvals, barring travellers from entry into Singapore, and suspending the sponsors and travellers from future applications, he added.
"So ICA moved quite fast, right: (in) February, the unilateral opening with Vietnam was suspended," he said. "The next month, in March, the boyfriend/girlfriend category was scrapped because we took the view that this was being abused."
Mr Shanmugam had previously revealed, in response to a parliamentary question from Workers' Party MP He Ting Ru in February, that as at Jan 31, over 16,000 short-term visit and long-term pass holders had arrived in Singapore via the familial ties lane.
In contrast, as at the same date, over 3,000 of these pass holders had arrived via reciprocal green lanes, which facilitate essential business and official travel.
‘Abuse’ of boyfriend/girlfriend category to enter Singapore led to removal

"We created this category (of) boyfriend/girlfriend during a pandemic, last year, October, because we wanted to be compassionate... people want their loved ones to come in, and we want to try and help," he said.
"But if the system is abused, then we have to stop it (and) unfortunately what that has meant is that many legitimate applications are now being refused."
Mr Shanmugan noted that recent police operations at nightlife outlets had led to 29 women of various nationalities being arrested for offences under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act and other laws. Sixteen have had their passes cancelled and have been or will be deported, while investigations into the remaining women are ongoing, he said.

 

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Lockdown the entire country just to ensure that hospitals are not overwhelmed.

Coronavirus Singapore - Commentary​

Nuanced approach to rising infections better than blanket curbs​

The food and beverage sector is closed once more as Singapore reverts to phase two (heightened alert), with only takeaway and delivery services allowed. The writer asks whether a limit of two people per table could have been imposed instead.ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH

Salma Khalik
Senior Health Correspondent

JUL 25, 2021

The large number of people here infected with Covid-19 in recent days has been alarming.
It jumped from single digits in the first third of the month to double digits in the week following that, and now for the past four days, it has been above 100.
The multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19 reacted the day after the number of infections crossed the 100-people mark. Indeed, the number of newly diagnosed infections almost doubled from 87 last Sunday to 163 the next day.
So, people here are now faced with four weeks of tightened measures.
While Ministry of Health (MOH) statements like "the number of new cases in the community has increased from 127 cases in the week before to 883 cases in the past week" sound scary, a closer look at the numbers tells a somewhat different story.
Eight people required oxygen or intensive care on Thursday, compared with 18 on June 25. The number is likely to go up over the next few days, given that it usually takes some time for serious illness to manifest.

The task force's decision to move Singapore back to phase two (heightened alert) reflects this possibility.
But the eight people needing oxygen or intensive care are fewer than the 10 people needing such care on July 7, when the easing of measures was announced.
Earlier this year, the task force said it is not the overall infection numbers but rather the number who are seriously ill that is important, as this could have an impact on hospital care or even overwhelm hospital services.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung explained in a Facebook post the recent decision to tighten measures. He said: "Markets are frequented by seniors, many of whom remain unvaccinated.

"This is most worrying, and we are at risk of an uncontrollable rise in cases, which could potentially result in many severe illnesses or even deaths. So we need to pre-emptively tighten up social activities."
I totally agree that measures need to be tightened. I only question if the tightening was too much of a blanket move, and whether it was really necessary to return to a semi-lockdown status.
This is especially so since the number of vulnerable seniors infected remains low. On Thursday, there were six unvaccinated or partially vaccinated seniors out of the 162 people infected.
Could a middle path have been taken instead - giving sufficient protection to those yet to be vaccinated, while leaving the majority with greater freedom to live a more normal life?
If this situation had happened at the start of the year, or even just three months back, I would have said "lock down".
But today, half of the population have been vaccinated, and while this might not be enough for Singapore to switch to an endemic mode, it does provide some measure of protection, even against the more transmissible Delta variant at work here.
Finance Minister and task force co-chairman Lawrence Wong said earlier this month: "If you have been vaccinated, you get good protection against the infection and against severe illness, and therefore you don't need to have such strict measures applied to a vaccinated person or to groups of vaccinated persons."
Why the change of mind within such a short period? The numbers might have changed, but the science has not.
A study funded by Public Health England, published in the New England Journal of Medicine last week, found that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine gave a significant 88 per cent protection against the Delta variant, just slightly lower than the 93.7 per cent against the original version of the virus.
Another 1.4 million people here have had at least one vaccine dose, again conferring some level of protection. Unfortunately, the protection is much lower with one dose - 31 per cent against the Delta variant versus 49 per cent against the original.
So it remains important to get everyone fully vaccinated as soon as possible.
Nevertheless, the protection conferred by the vaccine is borne out by the figures released by MOH.
Of the people infected in the past fortnight, the 484 who have been fully vaccinated were either asymptomatic or showed only mild symptoms.
Those who became seriously ill were either only partially vaccinated or not vaccinated at all.
Mr Ong mentioned his worry over unvaccinated seniors. That is a real worry indeed. But is the answer to lock down the entire country because of some recalcitrant seniors who refuse to get vaccinated?
The Government has gone out of its way to persuade them, even making it possible for them to just walk into any vaccination centre, without prior appointment, to get the protection.
Until and unless vaccination is made compulsory, this group will remain. Is it fair for the country to come to a standstill to cater to a stubborn minority?
It is true that if everyone else is vaccinated, it does provide some herd immunity to people not vaccinated. But the risk of getting Covid-19, serious illness and possibly death will always be there for older unvaccinated people.
It might be better if these seniors stayed home, and for their family members who might pass the disease to them to either stay away or remain home with them to reduce the risk of infection.
The whole nation cannot live in a constant state of tightened measures to protect a group of people who refuse to protect themselves.
Looking at the community cases over the past fortnight, only 76 of the 1,014 cases were people aged 70 years and older. Among these 76, 57 have been fully vaccinated and another seven partially vaccinated, while 12 are unvaccinated.
Let us look at the slightly younger cohort, those aged 61 to 70. Of the 154 infected, 131 were fully vaccinated, seven partially vaccinated and 16 unvaccinated.
So even among the infected seniors, the majority have been vaccinated.
Cross-refer to the earlier figures and we know that all those who had been vaccinated, no matter their age, did not suffer serious symptoms.
Yes, efforts must continue to persuade more seniors to get vaccinated. But, meanwhile, could Singapore have adopted more nuanced measures?
Just over a week ago, Minister for Trade and Industry and task force co-chairman Gan Kim Yong said that a "targeted approach will better protect those who are yet to be vaccinated while allowing those who have been fully vaccinated to continue with the current measures".
So by all means close and clean places where outbreaks have been identified. At present, these places are primarily the markets and some foodcourts.
And ring-fence as many contacts as possible.
But was it necessary to close the food and beverage sector so soon after allowing it to open? Could a limit of two people per table have been imposed instead? Since two people are allowed to visit households each day, the logic is that small groups of two people pose an acceptable risk.
Could sporting facilities have allowed only people who have been fully vaccinated to continue with the activities?
Such differentiation would also serve to encourage younger people to get vaccinated.
Over the past fortnight, the largest cohort of people infected were aged 19 to 39. There were 450 of them, of whom 144 - or almost one-third - had not had a single vaccine dose, even though they were invited to get vaccinated more than a month ago.
Experts say while it is true that a fully vaccinated person who is infected can transmit the virus to others, the risk is low, since the person's viral load would also be low. Yes, it is not without risk, but the risk is low and unlikely to lead to a surge in serious infections if both parties have been fully vaccinated.
If the number of people needing hospital care, or who get seriously ill, remains fairly stable over the next few days, could a more calibrated approach replace the current phase two (heightened alert)?

I totally agree that measures need to be tightened. I only question if the tightening was too much of a blanket move, and whether it was really necessary to return to a semi-lockdown status.
This is especially so since the number of vulnerable seniors infected remains low... Could a middle path have been taken instead - giving sufficient protection to those yet to be vaccinated, while leaving the majority with greater freedom to live a more normal life?​

There are pressures to open up the economy and save jobs, giving people a sense of near normality that will certainly improve their mental well-being, and safeguarding the lives of the vulnerable.
It is a difficult tightrope to walk, but some fine-tuning of measures over the coming weeks would go a long way to show that vaccination can provide the light at the end of the tunnel.
After all, Mr Ong had said: "Once we reach 50 per cent, it'll be timely for us to have a more definitive road map to transit towards living with endemic Covid-19."
We are now at that point.

 

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Forum: Overly broad measures not needed in response to latest Covid-19 outbreaks​

July 27, 2021

I cannot agree more with Straits Times senior health correspondent Salma Khalik's well-reasoned position, especially when she writes that "the whole nation cannot live in a constant state of tightened measures to protect a group of people who refuse to protect themselves" (Nuanced approach to rising infections better than blanket curbs, July 25).
Surely the multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19 recognises the impact that the latest phase two (heightened alert) restrictions has, not only on the livelihoods of those directly affected, but also the psychological, emotional and practical ramifications for those whose routines are now thrown into a constant state of turmoil.
Government leaders have acknowledged the pernicious effects these restrictions, or even the anticipation of them, have had on the mental well-being of residents here.
I cannot understand why such broad and unnecessarily harsh measures have been taken in response to the latest outbreaks, instead of the nuanced approach as articulated by Ms Khalik.
Having said that, I am heartened that the authorities recognise the urgency of inoculating the populace and are aggressively promoting vaccination against Covid-19.

Chee Siok Chin

 

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Forum: Don't subject economy to repeated Covid-19 curbs​

July 27, 2021

I thank Straits Times senior health correspondent Salma Khalik for voicing publicly many of the questions that some of us have been raising privately concerning the Government's response to the developing Covid-19 situation, given the actual data being put out daily by the Ministry of Health (Nuanced approach to rising infections better than blanket curbs, July 25).
It seems that while Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19 talk of pivoting to dealing with the disease as a relatively low-level public health challenge more akin to seasonal influenza, the current measures are more in keeping with pursuing the objective of zero Covid-19.
As in all aspects of life, zero risk is an unattainable dream, and we all have to live with what society deems to be an acceptable level of risk, be it the number of influenza deaths or the number of deaths from road accidents each year.
Yes, the Government does need to have contingency measures (along with appropriate threshold levels to determine when they are needed) in place to deal with potential changes in the threat to public health from new variants.
But the Government cannot subject society and the country's economy to the crude, one-size-fits-all approach of repeated societal restrictions on the route back to normality.

Brian Dalby

 

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Coronavirus: Singapore​

Close watch being kept on hospitals' ICU capacity​

Five weeks could be all it takes to overwhelm the intensive care units, says Ong Ye Kung​

The intensive care unit at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. Deaths can occur easily if the hospitals are seriously overwhelmed, as seen in other places.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Joyce Teo
Senior Health Correspondent

JUL 17, 2021, 5:00 AM SGT


As the KTV cluster grows, the authorities here are keeping a close eye on the capacity of intensive care units (ICU) in hospitals because five weeks could be all it takes to overwhelm them, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said yesterday.
In less than a week, the cluster that started among people who had socialised in clandestine gatherings at KTV lounges has become Singapore's largest active cluster with 120 cases.
It was the second-largest cluster on Thursday, with 88 cases.
Mr Ong was speaking at a virtual media conference held by the multi-ministry task force on Covid-19.
The cluster is expected to grow, given that household transmission has occurred and there may be infected cases yet to be identified.
Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong said at the same media conference that the KTV cluster, as well as previous ones, have shown that many household contacts have been infected without leaving their homes or participating in high-risk activities.



As there remains a sizeable group of seniors here who have not been vaccinated, the concern now is not so much the size of the cluster but the number of vulnerable people who may be infected as they could require ICU care.
Of those aged 70 and above, about 29 per cent, or 140,000, have yet to be vaccinated.
Mr Ong said: "If in the next few days, more people (were to) fall sick and in the ICU, there are 25 people. In one week, there will be 50 people."
Then, there will be 100 people in the second week, 200 people in the third week, maybe about 500 people in the fourth week, and about 1,000 people in the fifth week, he added.

"We cannot wait five weeks. By the third week, if we see the numbers go up, action has to be taken quickly to rewind us back to at least the phase two (heightened alert)."
Deaths can occur easily if the hospitals are seriously overwhelmed, as has been the case in other places that have witnessed a huge surge in severe Covid-19 cases.
In the hospitals, there are 1,000 beds set aside for Covid-19 patients, and currently, there is one elderly Covid-19 patient in ICU.
The Singaporeans in the KTV cluster range in age from 19 to 60, and are frequent patrons of KTV lounges, Singapore's director of medical services Kenneth Mak said at the media conference.
The majority of the cluster cases are young, which may be why they were either asymptomatic or mildly infected, and being cared for in community care facilities, where doctors and nurses are around to monitor their health.
There is currently enough capacity in the hospitals and community care facilities, he said.
"However, as many of the more severe symptoms for Covid-19 infections only manifest in the second week... we will need to continue to keep a close watch on all of them."
Associate Professor Mak also said the authorities remain on guard for possible secondary transmission in the cluster.
Of the 88 cases in the cluster as at Thursday, only six were fully vaccinated. The remaining 82 cases were either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
A recent study of 1,000 household contacts of Covid-19 cases in Singapore has shown that mRNA vaccines have an effectiveness of between 80 per cent and 90 per cent when it comes to protection against symptomatic disease.

 

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Forum: Capacity of Singapore's ICU facilities has to be addressed​

July 27, 2021

I refer to the article, "Close watch being kept on hospitals' ICU capacity" (July 17).
According to the multi-ministry task force tackling the pandemic, the recent tightening of safe management measures is to ensure that Singapore's intensive care unit (ICU) capacity is not overwhelmed.
The majority of patients requiring hospitalisation, supplemental oxygen and/or ICU support are partially vaccinated or unvaccinated senior citizens.
The task force's stance appears to be governed by concerns about overwhelming the current ICU capacity should many of the recently infected become seriously ill.
In May last year, then Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said that Singapore was able to provide up to about 900 ICU beds (S'pore's healthcare capacity can be expanded for Covid-19 needs: Gan, May 5, 2020).
This capacity appears to have been increased, as Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on July 16 that 1,000 ICU beds have been set aside for Covid-19 patients.

If Singapore is truly to begin "living with Covid-19", then it seems that focusing on vaccination coverage and improved testing and tracing are insufficient at present.
It appears that the true rate-limiting obstacle to a calibrated reopening has yet to be addressed: the capacity of Singapore's ICU facilities.
From May last year to July this year, Singapore has managed to increase its ICU bed capacity by 100 places.
Is this something that will be continued or even accelerated over the coming months?
Expanding ICU capacity takes time. Not only do physical premises need to be constructed and specialist equipment procured, but years of specialised training are also required for future ICU staff.
If our current ICU facilities can be overwhelmed in five weeks with cases from the local resident population alone, then what does the future hold when widespread tourism resumes with any potential accompanying increase in infections from overseas visitors?
Also, many regional visitors come to Singapore for medical reasons and this may extend to Covid-19 treatment in the future.

Jaclyn Toh Ai Lin (Dr)

 

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MOH apologises for delays, lapses in Covid-19 quarantine process​

The ministry said most of the backlog was cleared over the weekend, and the situation should improve.ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

Rei Kurohi


AUG 2, 2021


SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Health (MOH) has apologised for delays in taking people under quarantine orders to government quarantine facilities.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, MOH on Monday (Aug 2) said the number of people under quarantine has "increased many fold" with the emergence of Covid-19 clusters linked to KTV lounges and the Jurong Fishery Port, as well as other smaller clusters.
The surge led to the delays in taking people to the facilities, as well as "communications gaps" for some under quarantine, said MOH.
"We apologise to these individuals and their families for delays and lapses.
"Our operations staff have been working very hard. The Ministry of Health has since ramped up our quarantine operations to handle the increased load."
The ministry did not elaborate or give details on the ramp-up in operations.


It added that most of the backlog has been cleared over the weekend, and the situation should improve.
Tighter restrictions under phase two (heightened alert), which have been in place since July 22, have resulted in a fall in the number of contacts per infected person, the ministry said.
More people are becoming fully vaccinated, which means more can serve their quarantine at home if their homes are suitable. This will also reduce the need for people to be taken to quarantine facilities, MOH added.
Those allowed to be quarantined at home can also opt to be taken to a facility if they wish.

There are about 10,000 people quarantined at home as at Aug 1.
MOH's statement comes after complaints from ST readers and netizens about lengthy wait times and unclear communication.
One ST reader said her mother was issued a quarantine order on July 20 and faced multiple delays in the process of being taken to a facility. Her mother was later told she could be quarantined at home.
The reader also said her mother's quarantine order was supposed to have expired on July 31, but she continued to stay home as she had not been given the results of her swab test.
MOH and Certis, which issued the quarantine order, were unresponsive to calls, the reader said.

​

Separately, in a written reply to a parliamentary question filed by Mr Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC) of the Workers' Party, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said the average time to issue a quarantine order from the point of notification of a confirmed case was two days, as at July.
The longest time interval was 14 days - this happened for a small number of individuals where it was particularly difficult to trace the contacts of the infected person, Mr Ong said.
The average time was shorter at 1.5 days in January this year, owing to the lower number of daily cases then.

 

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MAN RECEIVES QUARANTINE ORDER FROM 17 JULY, UNTIL NOW NOBODY FETCH HIM​

By KanyeNorth
-
July 24, 2021


https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?te...ow-nobody-fetch-him/&via=Singapore+Uncensored
https://pinterest.com/pin/create/bu...RDER+FROM+17+JULY,+UNTIL+NOW+NOBODY+FETCH+HIM

A netizen who works as a Grab Driver received a quarantine order from MOH for 17 July to 27 July.

He received the message after picking up a passenger who was allegedly infected from Little India to Outram.
He added that his supposed quarantine order is ending in 3 days and until now (24 July), nobody has come to fetch him to transfer him to a facility or whatnot.
Here is the story:
“Received these 2 sms from MOH supposed to stay quarantine at hotel but until now no people fetch me why ?
Been calling MOH as well as Celtic Cisco many times these few days also same no answer no reply how ?
My Quarantine finish soon so what I’m supposed to do now no answer nothing”

Images source: Chen Rui Ping on Facebook via Complaint Singapore Facebook

 

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WOMAN RECEIVES QUARANTINE ORDER, BUT 1 WEEK LATER STILL NO CONTACT FROM MOH​

By
KanyeNorth
-
July 29, 2021

A netizen, Noor Halimaton, shared how she and her family received a Quarantine Order from MOH via an SMS.

She said that it has been 7 days since and there is still no contact from MOH/Certis Cisco and calls have gone unanswered.
She shared that their family’s income is at stake.

Here is the story:​

“We need answers and confirmation .
We have been waiting and confining ourselves at home since the LOA/QO has been issued verbally and via sms to my daughter.
Now, has bn 7 days since we last heard from MOH or your vendor, Certis Cisco.
We need to know, our companies need to know what are we given. Our jobs here are at stake. Our income at stake.
You said an officer will get in touch with us within 48 hrs when the qo was issued.
7 days already. Nothing.
Called both ur line and cisco lines were nothing but engaged tone and when calls were picked up, there was no one at the end of the line.

We were told when the MOH officer called to inform us that QO served to my daughter that we need to check with CISCO as their (MOH) job is mainly to inform us that QO was served.
We need answers pls. Sorry its just that all this uncertainties is taking a toll on our mental health.”

 

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ANOTHER MAN KENA QUARANTINE ORDER , BUT NO CONTACT FROM MOH AS WELL​

By
KanyeNorth
-
August 1, 2021

A netizen took to Facebook to share how her father received a quarantine order from MOH on the 23 July.

He was instructed to wwait 2 to 3 days for someone to come and fetch him.
However, just like many others, he also didn’t receive any follow up and the family tried calling the hotline many times to no avail.
Here is the story:
“On 23/7/21, my dad receive a quarantine order. The instructions given was to wait for 2/3 days for someone to come and fetch him. 4/5 days, no news or further update.
Tried calling the hotline for multiple time, could not get through. I private message certis on FB and finally I got a call back.
And multiple people have been saying different things.Since 30/7/21, they have been saying that will come and do the swabbing for my dad but till today 1/8/21, not yet a single person came and his quarantine ends today.
Every morning call me at 8+am just to check if the swabbing is done anot.
Why not just PLEASE get it done ASAP. They have people saying that my dad is free to go. But please, I have said this multiple times, I need a negative swab for him and I need to submit to my HR before I can restart my work.
It’s not so easy to just say I can go back to work when my dad has ended quarantine, because it’s a healthcare job you see.

And I do not have any annual leaves left to just wait for a swab to be done.Why is it so hard to get things done?”

 

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MOH ALLEGEDLY MESSED UP QUARANTINE ORDER UNTIL GUY FED UP​

By
KanyeNorth
-
August 4, 2021

A netizen, Benny Wee, shared how a member of his household was told on 22 July that he had to be sent to a hotel for quarantine as he had visited a food centre with confirmed cases.

Days passed and no one came to pick him up, he also waited for a call that never came.
Here is the story:
“MOH doesn’t fail to amaze
Someone in my household was called up on the 22nd July that he was required to be sent to hotel for quarantine as he has visited the food center where the confirmed cases were.
He was told to wait for call for someone to pick him up, but day past day it didn’t happen. After calling them back a few times to check on the status but was given the same answer a day or two to come but obviously nobody came.
Blunder continues….
After the 6th day we just predicted it was a home quarantine but nothing was conveyed to us either. Despite MOH knew that the Person under quarantine (PUQ) is sharing common toilet with other members in the house.
Drama continues….
Someone came on the 9th day to do the PCR swab test before the end of quarantine the next day. However waited for another 4 days but no news for the test results or received any SMS for rescindment of quarantine

On the 5th day after the PCR exit test was done, then it was only brought to our attention that MOH has recorded wrongly the identity number for the previous swab test, hence another repeated swab test has to be done and wait again.
The quarantine period was therefore extended for another week from a 10 day Home Quarantine (HQ) to 17 days just to redo the swab test and wait for the prolonged results
The members in our household have been affected by their blunders and we may be just be the tip of such similar case.
We have been patience and understanding throughout this episode but I think it’s time for MOH to at least try to do their work properly, professionally and efficiently.”

 

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Forum: Puzzled by need for Covid-19 testing 27 days after alleged exposure​

Aug 5, 2021


Singapore has ramped up Covid-19 testing - something that many, including myself, support as the country aims to overcome the recent surge in cases.
That said, I have been told to go for a mandatory swab test under puzzling circumstances.
I was notified on July 27 that I had been potentially exposed on July 11, and that the test is a "precaution".
No exposure alert has shown up on my TraceTogether app since early June (the now-closed Ion Orchard cluster).
The contact tracing team said this discrepancy is not uncommon and "could be a software issue". They have no information on where the exposure took place. The public should be able to verify what contact tracers tell them.
I received the phone call 16 days after the said exposure date and the test was subsequently scheduled for six days later.

I could not make that date, and rang the Ministry of Health Covid-19 emergency hotline multiple times only to get the automated message that they were "experiencing a high volume of calls".
I left my number as prompted but have had no call back.
I rescheduled my swab test by ringing the Certis hotline. It is now set for Saturday, 27 days after the alleged exposure.
Is there really a need to test me after that many days? All my close contacts and I have been completely well.
Adding to that lack of urgency, I have not been told to restrict my movements in any way. Clearly, I am deemed to be of little or no risk to the community.
So again, why the requirement for a swab test?
Polymerase chain reaction tests are something most people would prefer not to do unless necessary, and are resource-intensive to administer.
I fail to see why one is needed in my case.

Cheryl Lim

 

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View attachment 116926

I wonder if that poster is still alive, rofl.

 

[ckmpd]

singaporeans are suffering because of the many mistakes and flip flops of the pap. Opening of borders is likely to cause more problems

 

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Forum: Daughter's vaccination status not updated in TraceTogether app​

AUG 21, 2021

My daughter, aged 12, has had her second vaccine shot more than 19 days ago but her TraceTogether app still shows that she is unvaccinated. She has made sure the app has been updated to the latest version.
Many of my friends' teenagers are facing a similar issue.
I have repeatedly sent messages to the TraceTogether customer service e-mail address, but to no avail.
Can the authorities please look into this and resolve the issue?
Unfortunately, in spite of being vaccinated, my daughter cannot dine at many restaurants as they do not want to recognise the document given at the vaccination centre showing that she has taken her two doses, relying only on the token or app instead.

Mansi Engineer

 

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Man notified of Quarantine Order from MOH, which gets rescinded, then confirmed, then rescinded again, all in 1 day​

The beleaguered family is not the first to get confused by a quarantine order, nor is it likely to be the last, as long as the pandemic is ongoing.



AUTHOR Anna Maria Romero
DATE August 20, 2021

Singapore — A woman appealed for help over social media after her husband received a call from the Ministry of Health telling him of his exposure to Covid, which meant he needed to quarantine.
However, an hour later, MOH called again to apologise for the inconvenience, as there was no need to quarantine.
And then, in an update to her query posted on the Friends of Yew Tee Facebook page, she said that the ministry had called again, to reinstate the quarantine order (QO).

However, in the latest comment to her post, she wrote that the QO had been rescinded yet again.

“WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR MOH?
WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW?” SHE ASKED IN HER POST.

One cannot blame Ms Aljhane May Cheow for feeling both stressed and confused with the seemingly contradictory instructions from the ministry.
After all, it’s scary enough to hear of your loved ones’ possible exposure to Covid. Added to this is the necessity of making arrangements for isolation, which can be challenging as work and childcare arrangements need to be sorted out.
Ms Cheow wrote in her Aug 19 post that at 2 pm that day, her husband had received a call saying he had been in close contact with a person who tested positive for Covid.
The husband was given instructions to self-quarantine for the time being and was told that in two days he would be brought elsewhere to isolate.
And then, an hour later, he received a call from the same number and was told “NO NEED TO QUARANTINE and sorry for the inconvenience.”
However, in the meantime, Ms Cheow quite naturally had sprung into action, writing that she had rushed back home to pick their children up.
Four hours later, she gave a terse update. “They called again .. Gave another QO,” Ms Cheow wrote, adding a facepalm emoji.
In the comments to her post, she showed a message from MOH indicating that the Quarantine Order had been rescinded, before commenting again that the order had been reinstated.
However, in her very last message, Ms Cheow wrote that the order had been rescinded yet again.

The beleaguered family is not the first to get confused by a quarantine order, nor is it likely to be the last, as long as the pandemic is ongoing.

 

[borom]

There is total lack of accountability for the highest paid multimillion dollars ministers but if locals were to do anything wrong, they will be punished severely by one of the most draconian laws in the world.
Why are the above cockups happening-because you VOTED FOR PAP.

When the dorm outbreak occurs, you can see all resources being mobilised including the SAF, but this time around nothing was seemingly done to assist the MOH .
imagine when they open up the country and covid cases shoot up beyond 200 to 300 a day, many locals better be prepared to die -as said so blatantly by OYK.
I want to see how many locals are prepared to lose their loved ones before they vote the PAP out.
OYK seems to think that no many how many locals die, they will still be in power earning millions and enjoying a fat pension.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: Stay-home notice scheme should be governed by the free market​

Aug 25, 2021


I am a Singaporean working overseas and have had several experiences in the last 1½ years serving a stay-home notice (SHN) at dedicated facilities.
My three experiences of quarantine in Singapore at dedicated facilities have not been pleasant.
Because I have allergies and a sensitive digestive system, I need a hotel that can cater to my dietary and other needs (such as not being placed in a fully carpeted room).
However, making any special request to the SHN team is a nightmare - it takes a long time for it to respond to e-mails, and I have called the hotline and waited almost two hours for the phone to be picked up.
Non-medical (medical requests must be backed by a letter from a professional) and non-emergency requests are not entertained and are referred to the hotel desks.
Hotel desks which cannot cater to the requests will in turn ask guests to contact the SHN team. It is a typical case of passing the buck.

There are also people serving SHN who are angry about being placed in three- or four-star hotels, as opposed to the five-star hotels that others get, since the cost of the stay is the same regardless of the hotel they are allocated.
This lose-lose situation could have been avoided by leaving the SHN scheme to be governed by free market principles, with people paying more for better quality or to have special requests met, while still keeping the necessary health and safety restrictions in place.
This is what is practised in many countries, where one chooses his hotel from an approved list according to one's quarantine needs or preferences. Choices of transportation are also available and arranged safely.
I am surprised that a vibrant society like Singapore's, that prides itself on being able to cater to the diverse needs of individuals, has locked itself in a scheme that is so restrictive.
The current situation also means that the SHN team is overwhelmed and is not in a position to offer first-class public service.
Sometimes, it is better to leave things to businesses - consumers choose them, and they will in turn take care of guests who are paying them willingly.

Joanne Lin

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: How does Vaccinated Travel Lane scheme ensure that people have stayed only in Germany?​

Aug 26, 2021

The announcement of the Vaccinated Travel Lane scheme, which will start with Brunei and Germany, is definitely great news for Singaporeans and the travel industry, after many months of the border being closed (S'pore eases border measures, launches vaccinated travel lanes, Aug 20).
However, there is a potential loophole in this arrangement.
If a Singaporean visits Germany under this scheme, he is required to have visited only Singapore and Germany in the last 21 days before he is allowed to travel back to Singapore.
How do the authorities ensure that? Would it be possible for someone to arrive in Germany, take a train to visit another European Union country, then return to Germany for his flight back to Singapore? His passport would not reflect any country other than Germany since there are no border controls in Europe's passport-free zone for those travelling by train.

Ng Kok Thye

 

[Incognito]

From" If you're unwell wear a mask, if you're well you no need mask" to "boyfriend be guarantor to bring in girlfriend to Singapore" - all these are how Covid-19 have been mismanaged. Now, the bus driver clusters are multiplying. What can be done? C'mon, those who travel by public transports are unlike those who can afford private bug cars. Once these poorer people sufferr, the whole family suffers too. Don't wait till the worst happens, we cry.