China reported its only imported case on Tuesday, May 26, from Singapore. A China national who worked in Singapore arrived at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport on May 7, showed infection when he went through a CT scan and tested positive for a serum antibody test. He however tested negative with the standard nucleic acid test.
The China authorities did not take any chances and quarantined him, where he subsequently showed symptoms and tested positive on May 25.
The news came after Singapore adopted a new patient discharge policy, that allows a COVID-19 positive patient to be discharged if he is “clinically well” after 21 days of quarantine.
In a recent announcement, Singapore National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said China will allow essential and business travel with Singapore on an unspecified date next month.
However, the Singapore request for tourism exchange was rejected.
Greece today extended invitation to 29 countries to form a “travel bubble” for countries which have proven to have controlled their domestic coronavirus outbreak, including Australia and China.
The 29 countries are: Albania, Australia, Austria, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Estonia, Japan, Israel, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lebanon, New Zealand, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Norway, South Korea, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Finland.
Singapore is not in the list.
Malaysia also refused Singapore’s request to open up border travel, and demanded that all arrivals from Singapore be self-isolated for 14 days quarantine at a hotel on their own expenses.
Singapore reported 506 new cases today, the highest in Asia.