Singapore’s dictatorship government announced that the arrivals from China will not need to be quarantined for 14 days in Singapore, according to a “fast lane” deal was signed with China:
“Under the Singapore-China “fast lane” agreement, which will start next Monday (June 8), travellers on both sides will be exempt from rules that require everyone else to serve quarantine periods of up to 14 days.”
The lax policy however means both China and Singapore will likely see imported cases, as Singapore has not done any mass testing on its population yet.
The Singapore government is now complacent after manipulating daily reporting figures to exclude foreign worker infections, which they claimed is not part of the Singapore community.
A weekly flight to six China cities – Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang – is in the “fast lane” arrangement but it is only for essential business travellers.
Arrivals will have to be swab-tested prior in China and again upon arrival in Singapore. They will also have to bear the cost of the tests, and hospitalisation costs if they were later found to be infected.
A testing kit in China costs 370¥ (S$75) while one in Singapore at S$270. Hospitalisation costs in Singapore will be at least S$205 a night, and it is not known how long a person can be quarantined.
Due to the exorbitant costs, it is unlikely Singapore will see any significant China arrivals to resuscitate its doomed tourism and FnB businesses.
Singapore’s neighbours in ASEAN, including Malaysia, refused to open up flights or border movement with Singapore, which is currently the leading coronavirus epicentre in Asia.