PAP government going to end India travel ban

[LITTLEREDDOT]

It is impossible for Sinkies working in the segregated area not to catch the Indian variant of the virus and transmit it to the community.
Singapore will be in a perpetual cycle of CB, out of CB, CB, out of CB again.
And all this while the travellers from India will continue to come in unabated.

Changi Airport to segregate travellers from high-risk locations to stem Covid-19 spread​

The move comes as Changi Airport is now the largest active Covid-19 cluster here, with a total of 59 cases.ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

David Sun

May 15, 2021

SINGAPORE - Travellers arriving at Changi Airport from high-risk regions will be segregated from people coming from places with a lower-risk profile.
They will be assigned a different pier from the ones used by people coming from places with a lower Covid-19 risk profile, and also use different arrival immigration halls, baggage belts and toilets from those arriving from lower-risk areas.
If they are flying in from very high-risk areas, they will be escorted at all times as they move around the airport. These travellers will also have their on-arrival Covid-19 testing done at separate health screening stations.
The latest precautions come as Changi Airport becomes the largest active Covid-19 cluster here, with a total of 59 cases as at Friday (May 14).
Workers infected with Covid-19 at Changi Airport were mainly working in one zone that received travellers from higher-risk regions, including South Asia, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Friday.
He said that the airport identified this trend after studying the 20-plus initial infections in the airport cluster.



Also, about 8,000 office workers at Changi Airport's passenger terminal buildings will be tested over the next few days as part of an ongoing special testing operation to contain the spread of Covid-19.
In a statement on Saturday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said almost 10,000 airport workers have been tested since the operation started on May 9, of which 35 have tested positive for the virus.
However, none of these workers are in serious condition.
Eventually, all airport workers in higher-risk roles will be placed on a seven-day rostered routine testing cycle, regardless of their vaccination status. This is a step up from the current 14-day cycle.

CAAS added that many of those who tested positive had eaten at outlets at Terminal 3 Basement 2, which has been closed since May 10 for cleaning and disinfection.
The cleaning and disinfection operation has now been completed for Kopitiam and a FairPrice supermarket there, and a thorough review of the outlets' hygiene practices and safe management measures is in progress.
Cleaning and disinfection are also ongoing at Jewel, and similar operations will be extended to the transit areas where airport workers were suspected to have been infected.

Members of the public who had visited Changi Airport Terminal 3 from May 1 will be offered free Covid-19 testing and are strongly encouraged to take this test.
The Ministry of Health will progressively inform these individuals via SMS notification with details on how to book an appointment for the test.
CAAS said: "In our ongoing fight against Covid-19, we have called upon the airport community to do their part to help contain the spread of the virus.
"Airport workers have been reminded to exercise social responsibility, minimise social interactions, and are encouraged to get vaccinated and tested to protect themselves and their loved ones.
"We recognise the contributions, dedication and sacrifices that the men and women of the airport community have given to keep our airport safe, while ensuring that Singapore remains connected to the world."

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Why are there imported cases in the first place?
Aren't the passengers required to have a negative test before they board the plane?
Is bribing of airline and security staff common in order for positive cases to get onto the plane?
Are the tests reliable?
Are the test results fake?
Why hasn't the PAP government done anything?

 

[zhihau]

Why are there imported cases in the first place?

bro,
jangan tension... just get more of your kakis to do the right thing in next GE.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

bro,
jangan tension... just get more of your kakis to do the right thing in next GE.

Maybe Dot will be dead from covid-19 or the vaccine by the time the next GE comes around.

 

[laksaboy]

Quick question: are those swab tests accurate? Or worse... contaminated with Covid?

 

[Pinkieslut]

 

[orh mee suah]

The ST graphics suggests that the airport workers working in high risk zone are more likely to get the virus from handling baggage and trolleys, not from coming into direct contact with the travelers from South Asia.
The members of the public then got the virus from visiting the places where the infected airport workers have been to, not from visiting the places where the travelers from south Asia have been to.
Is that correct?

 

[nayr69sg]

The infographic missed out....

Some of the travelers are friends of the airport workers. So when they meet each other at baggage collection they stop for a while to greet hug and kiss.

 

[zhihau]

Need CSI team to figure that out

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Getting ready to re-open entry to arrivals from India.

Changi Airport workers to be segregated into risk-based zones; travellers from 'very high-risk' places to use T2 remote gates​

The latest measures come after Changi Airport Group conducted an investigation and operational analysis of the airport Covid-19 cluster.ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

Kok Yufeng

May 24, 2021

SINGAPORE - Changi Airport Group (CAG) will segregate some 14,000 airport workers into three distinct zones, with strict measures to ensure that the 4,400 workers in the highest-risk zone are protected from Covid-19 and isolated from other staff and the public.
Other measures to reduce the risk of transmission include testing workers in the highest-risk zone more frequently, deploying only younger and vaccinated workers in this zone and ensuring that they wear the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) at all times.
Travellers from "very high-risk" countries will be escorted to remote gates in Terminal 2 - which is currently closed for renovation - for immigration clearance, and then transported directly to their quarantine facility from the gate by bus, said CAG on Monday (May 24).
These new measures are being introduced progressively and will be fully in place when Changi Airport terminals 1 and 3, as well as Jewel Changi, reopen to the public at the end of the heightened alert period on June 13.
This is a fundamental redesign of the airport's operating processes, said CAG chief executive Lee Seow Hiang at a press conference. It is based on the assumption that transient contact with all incoming travellers - previously deemed to be low risk - is actually risky, he added.
The measures are taken out of an abundance of caution after a cluster of more than 100 people, many of whom had contracted the more infectious B1617 variant, emerged this month, Mr Lee said.



"We stand guided by the best advice," he added, noting that in the past, prolonged activity was seen as high risk. This has since changed, with any kind of activity in zones where workers interact with passengers regarded as risky.
"I don't want to speak on behalf of experts (but) our understanding of the B1617 (variant) is evolving still. So we are doing the best we can from our own operational experience, looking at the possibilities," he said.
The latest measures come after CAG conducted an investigation and operational analysis of the airport cluster.
Public meeting areas in the airport will be considered lowest risk (Zone 3), while the departure immigration area and the central transit area of the airport are the next higher-risk areas (Zone 2).

Flight crew enter the departure check-in area, which is in Zone 3, from the drop-off area on at Terminal 3 on May 24, 2021.

The central transit area of the airport are the next higher-risk areas (Zone 2). ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

The departure and arrival gates, arrival immigration hall and baggage claim hall are considered the highest-risk areas (Zone 1).
As an added precaution, passengers from "very high-risk" countries will not go through T1 or T3, CAG said. Instead, they will be escorted to remote gates in T2 and taken directly to their quarantine facility from the gate.
When asked, CAG did not specify what these "very high-risk" countries were, only saying that the risk assessment is dynamic.
At T1 and T3, all arriving passengers will also be separated from departing travellers, with each group having a set route to and from the terminal gates.

The departure and arrival gates, arrival immigration hall and baggage claim hall are considered the highest-risk areas (Zone 1). ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

The rest area in Zone 1 of Terminal 3 on May 24, 2021. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

Previously, there were no segregated routes for passengers departing from Singapore and passengers arriving from low-risk countries.
These lower-risk passengers, who are unescorted, have to proceed straight to immigration, collect their baggage and take their on-arrival Covid-19 test. Mr Lee said any contact between such passengers is considered transient.
But with the B1617 variant, CAG is not taking such transient interactions lightly, he added.
CAG also emphasised that incoming passengers from high-risk countries are already segregated and escorted by airport staff upon arrival. This will continue with the new operating model.
Tighter protocols for Changi Airport workers, including risk-based segregation | THE BIG STORY

​

Meanwhile, airport workers will be cohorted so as to avoid cross-deployment between the three zones, and those working in Zone 1 cannot leave their zone throughout their shift.
There will be physical access control points manned by airport staff to ensure Zone 1 workers do not intermingle with other workers.
All workers in Zone 1 will also have to wear full PPE - which includes a surgical or N95 mask, a face shield, gloves and a surgical gown - at all times, except during meal times and toilet breaks.
Departure gates and areas for passenger amenities have been converted into dedicated dining and rest areas for these workers, and they must got through the proper PPE donning and doffing procedures when entering or leaving these rest areas.
There will be 14 rest areas and toilet facilities for Zone 1 staff across the airport.
Additional training on PPE protocol will be given to workers, and more audits and spot checks will be carried out, said CAG.

In addition, only younger, fully vaccinated workers will be deployed to Zone 1.
"This does not mean workers will lose their jobs. If you, for various reasons, cannot be vaccinated, we believe there are enough in zones 2 and 3 (for redeployment)," Mr Lee said.
CAG said it is aiming to get more than 90 per cent of Zone 2 and Zone 3 workers vaccinated in the coming weeks.
When asked how many airport staff have been fully vaccinated, Mr Lee would only say that more than 90 per cent of front-line staff have received both vaccine doses, while the vaccination rate among general airport workers was in the high 80s.
The testing regime for workers will be stepped up as well.

Zone 1 workers will need to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test every seven days, up from the current 14 days, and undergo a rapid antigen test on the third day.
CAG said it is planning to introduce daily non-invasive tests for Zone 1 workers at the end of their shifts to give them peace of mind when they go home to loved ones.
It did not specify what these non-invasive tests would be, though Mr Lee said CAG is looking closely at technology like breathalyser tests.
Zone 2 and Zone 3 workers must take the PCR test every 14 days instead of 28 days currently, and a rapid antigen test on the seventh day of each testing cycle.

​

Given the recent reports of Covid-19 possibly being spread via airborne transmission, CAG will also install portable high-efficiency particulate air filters in key places, such as rest areas for workers, to mitigate the risk of the virus spreading that way.
These filters are similar to those used in hospitals.
When asked how long he expects these new measures to last, Mr Lee said the new operating model "will be with us as long as Covid-19 is with us".
It is also scalable should current border restrictions be lifted, he added.

​

Mr Lee was also asked whether these new measures were being implemented too late since the B1617 variant has been circulating in other countries for months.
In response, he said the new measures were adopted in recognition of a “deeper understanding” of the B1617 variant. He noted the World Health Organisation had issued an advisory about possible airborne transmission only earlier this month.
He added: "While we have had successful measures over the past year to protect workers and passengers, the virus remains a highly elusive one. It penetrated our defences and caused an infection to spread across our community, causing distress and anxiety. We deeply regret this.
"With our airport partners, and together with the authorities, we have worked hard to reinvent our operating processes and enhanced our protocols so that we can decisively ring-fence and segment the zone serving arriving passengers, regardless of where they are flying from."

 

[laksaboy]

Silly PAP technocrats, they still believe more stringent procedures and technology will salvage the situation.

Study so hard until brain turned into a cheebai, that's what they are.

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Since when was there an ah neh land travel ban?

 

[ftan42]

still think by setting these stringent arrangements can beat the covid from south asia
but the asymptomatic passengers may pass the test and get through unless some test can detect them
once passed through the exit gate will be like any ordinary person

 

[nayr69sg]

Knowing that with covid19 spread is highest risk indoors may I suggest to Changi Airport that for travelers coming from the "highest risk" zones be processed outdoors?

Set up tents. All done open air. Processed then off they go.

It will be like having two swimming pools one indoor one outdoor.

What they are doing now is a bit like having a "Peeing and pooping allowed section in the big big swimming pool and saying yeah we have very clearly allocated areas to protect people from the poop and pee."

 

[zhihau]

Since when was there an ah neh land travel ban?

Official statement is March 2020.

if not true can POFMA them?

 

[mojito]

Official statement is March 2020.

if not true can POFMA them?

Travel ban, but no restrict entry yes? Cunning pap can hide no more. Other travel hubs all so no more south Asia go reset their risk pro file. Might as well open. Surely no one has issues with our Singapore core returning?

 

[mahjongking]

what ban? PAP, fuck your mother cheebye, it was you who allowed these shitskins in and now you want to do PR damage control, please go and fuck your own mothers

 

[shittypore]

still think by setting these stringent arrangements can beat the covid from south asia
but the asymptomatic passengers may pass the test and get through unless some test can detect them
once passed through the exit gate will be like any ordinary person

The only way to prove to all the arse holes is in few weeks time there is an explosion, boom boom boom!!!!!!

 

[theblackhole]

do and plan everything
people have been screaming to close the borders
close the borders close the borders months ago
now they started to do all the wayanging and checking
just too late just too late
the shit is already inside the community
terrible sinkies terrible sinkies
just too late now ....

 

[theblackhole]

so scared until balls shrinked
scared even to call India
this new country called South Asia
scared until labelled returnees citizens or prs
damned scared place now
everything scared scared scared
wait until mis no mask exposes all the shitholes