Covid surge prompts calls for return of masks, airport scanners in Singapore and Indonesia
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The goal is to slow the spread of a variety of germs, as a confluence of Covid, flu and other respiratory pathogens may set off wider outbreaks that ultimately stretch healthcare systems.
But it can be a fraught process, with the public highly attuned to the risk of draconian measures, which were put in place early in Asia at the start of the pandemic in 2020 and which lasted for much longer than in other parts of the world, coming back.
The increase in cases could be due to a number of factors, including waning population immunity and increased travel and community interactions during the year-end travel and festive season
Covid cases on the island nation, or at least the ones that have been reported, jumped to 32,035 in the week ended December 2 from just over 22,000 the previous week, according to Singapore’s health ministry.
Waning immunity, increased travel fuel jump in Singapore Covid cases
Waning immunity, increased travel fuel jump in Singapore Covid cases
However, at this time, “there is no evidence that JN.1 presents an increased risk to public health relative to other currently circulating variants,” the CDC said in a December 8 statement.
Officials in Indonesia meanwhile have reinstalled thermal scanners at some border check points, the Straits Times newspaper reported on Wednesday. They include Jakarta’s main international airport and the Batam ferry terminal.
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World Health Organization announces Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency
World Health Organization announces Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency
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