Singapore — The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Wednesday (Jun 23) that the Stay-Home Notice (SHN) for travellers from higher-risk countries or regions are required to serve has been reduced to 14 days instead of the 21 days which was implemented last month.
MOH shortened the quarantine for travellers from high-risk areas “based on updated evidence gathered over the past month.”
These areas include all countries or regions, with only Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Macau, China and New Zealand as exceptions. This means that even travelers from areas with a high incidence of Covid-19 infections, including India and Brazil, only need to serve 14-days SHNs.
According to MOH’s announcement, even though the new variants of concern show increased transmissibility, no evidence has been seen that the variants have longer periods of incubation.
MOH said that after May 8, when it required the longer quarantine for all travellers from higher-risk countries, there have been 270 imported cases.
“All of them had incubation periods well within the 14-day window. (Thus), we will reduce the SHN period from 21 days back to 14 days,” MOH added.
The Ministry said, however, that travellers from higher-risk areas will now be required to administer antigen rapid test (ART) on themselves on Days 3, 7, and 11 upon their arrival in the country, as well as a PCR swab test on Day 14 of the SHN.
MOH made its announcement on the same day that India said it has detected more than 40 cases of a new variant of the infection which it is calling “Delta Plus,” believed to be not only more transmissible but also more resistant to Covid-19 treatments.
This variant was first detected in India on Jun 11.
While viruses often mutate, not all variants have the same impact.
The Indian government, however, classified “Delta Plus” as a variant of concern.
India’s health ministry said in a statement, “The mutation K417N has been of interest as it is present in the Beta variant (B.1.351 lineage), which was reported to have immune evasion property.”
According to Dr Vineeta Bal, an immunologist at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Pune, “The fear in everybody’s mind is that now there is a further mutation and it might again take us towards another wave.”
She added that at this point, however, that it’s too soon to know this.
The variant has been detected in nine other countries, including the US and the UK, and where it originated is still unclear.
No deaths have been reported from the variant in India and the UK.
However, to prevent the variant from spreading further, the Indian government has asked that testing, contact tracing, and vaccinations efforts be stepped up in the three states —Maharashtra, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh— where the “Delta Plus” variant has been found.
Only four per cent of India’s population has been vaccinated against Covid-19.
/TISG
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