Singapore tracking Covid-19 situation in nations it has travel pacts with

Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung stressed that it was critical for Singapore to continue to open up its skies. PHOTO: ST FILE

Singapore is closely watching the situation in countries with which it has travel agreements - especially those seeing a resurgence in Covid-19 infections, said Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung.

Even as the case numbers spike in countries such as Germany and Indonesia, with which Singapore has green lane arrangements for business travel, it is important to figure out which groups are getting infected, he said yesterday.

"In the case of reciprocal green lanes, it is targeted at business travellers. And among these groups, more likely... their case rates are lower," he told The Straits Times.

The risks of importing Covid-19 cases from these countries are further mitigated by other precautions being observed, such as Covid-19 testing and a controlled itinerary, he pointed out.

Mr Ong was responding to the concerns that have been raised about Singapore's reciprocal green lane for business and official travel with Germany.

The German authorities recently announced plans for a lockdown next month after a surge in Covid-19 cases.

"We have to understand where the cases are, and which segment of society is not actually (registering) a high number of cases," Mr Ong said.

When case numbers soared in Singapore, the country had also at one point faced perception issues, he noted, even though the surge was largely on account of the coronavirus spreading in migrant worker dormitories here.

"When Singapore was having hundreds of Covid-19 cases every day, we were still living life quite normally because we know that in our community, the number of cases is low," he said.

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"The truth is there are different segments and different geography in most countries."

Mr Ong added that Singapore's decision on which countries to have travel arrangements with is backed by analyses of their epidemic responses by healthcare professionals in the Ministry of Health.

Among the factors that are studied are a country's level of contact tracing, safe distancing measures and its level of testing.

"It is in the science, everything has to be scientifically backed up," said Mr Ong.

The minister said he personally checks on the number of Covid-19 cases in several countries daily.

He stressed that it was critical for Singapore to continue to open up its skies, even in the current climate.

"This is not just about economic growth, this is about making sure that we still have a strong airport, making sure that we still have Singapore Airlines... and making sure that Singapore continues to exist."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 30, 2020, with the headline Singapore tracking Covid-19 situation in nations it has travel pacts with. Subscribe