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Singapore reports 24 Covid-19 cases, but Hong Kong says travel bubble still on
- City state confirms largest daily jump in infections since July as Changi Airport cluster balloons to 46
- Reasons for optimism, says Alex Cook, the vice-dean for research at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health
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Singapore confirmed 24 locally-transmitted Covid-19 cases on Thursday, the largest daily jump since July last year, with infections linked to a cluster at Changi Airport ballooning to 46.
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Four of the 24 cases could not be traced, health authorities said. This brings the seven-day moving average of unlinked cases in the country to 2.14 – the highest since the quarantine-free air travel bubble with Hong Kong was announced on April 27. Hong Kong’s stands at 0.14.
Under the arrangement, the travel corridor, which is set to begin in less than two weeks on May 26, will be suspended if the seven-day moving average of unlinked cases in either city exceeds five.
Singapore now has 12 active clusters. The country has already clocked 112 domestic infections this month, compared to 55 cases in April and just nine in March.
Alex Cook, the vice-dean for research at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, who specialises in infectious diseases modelling, said while this was the most community cases since July, there were reasons for optimism. Cook explained that many of the cases being uncovered were linked to clusters and were found as part of contact-tracing efforts.
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