Singapore is taking the COVID-19 outbreak very seriously. Various enhanced measures such as travel restrictions have been implemented to try to contain the spread of the virus.
Primarily, the travel restrictions have been extended to those who have travelled to South Korea, Iran and northern Italy to try to mitigate the number of imported cases.
But these are far from the only thing that the government is doing:
4,500 Stay-Home-Notices Handed Out By 3 Mar 2020
Immigration officers have issued over 4,500 stay-home notices as of Tuesday morning (3 March).
These include those who are returning from South Korea’s Daegu city and Cheongdo county.
As of 8am, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) told The Straits Times that it has issued 4,535 notices.
The notices were given to Singapore residents and pass holders, including students and foreign workers who have travelled to Daegu, Cheongdo and mainland China excluding Hubei in the past 14 days.
What’s A Stay Home Notice
Those who have been issued stay home notices are not allowed to leave their homes for 14 days.
You’re essentially on house lockdown and you have no choice but to curl up in bed for 14 days while you Netflix and Chill.
How horrifying.
When It Started
The first stay-home notices took into effect from 11.59pm on 18 February and were originally only for those with recent travel history to China, excluding Hubei.
Those who are returning from Hubei will be quarantined instead.
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The changes that have been implemented is the extension of the scheme to include those who are returning from Daegu and Cheongdo.
This comes after the coronavirus cases in these two Korean destinations increased rapidly.
Visitors from Daegu and Cheongdo were also barred from entry into Singapore.
On Tuesday, restrictions were further extended to the rest of South Korea, northern Italy and Iran after even more cases were confirmed in these areas.
These measures will take effect from 11.59pm on Wednesday.
The Situation In Korea
To really get a grasp of how serious the situation in Korea is, here are some figures.
There are currently over 4,800 confirmed cases in South Korea as of Tuesday. Almost 90% of which have been from Daegu and North Gyeongsang, which is the neighbouring province.
On the other hand, over half are linked to Daegu city’s Shincheonji Church of Jesus. It is a controversial Christian group which has been touted as a cult.
The situation there is so serious that the church might even be investigated for murder. In fact, it was the government of Seoul that asked for a murder investigation into the leaders.
Punishments For Those Who Don’t Abide By The Stay At Home Notice
Sick of Netflix and chilling at home and want to head out for some fresh air at the risk of potentially exposing everyone with a freshly imported virus?
Here’s a piece of advice: Don’t.
Those who do not abide by the stay-home rules can be prosecuted under the Infectious Diseases Act. They can be fined up to $10,000, jailed up to six months or both, for the first offence.
If you die-die can’t sit at home and flout the rules again, subsequent offences can go up to a maximum fine of $20,000 and up to a year’s jail.
Permanent residents and pass holders may have their re-entry permits or pass shortened or revoked.
Just like this dude who decided to test the system and had his PR removed and banned from Singapore.
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While this might sound harsh, at least we can all rest easy knowing that the authorities are seriously protecting us from Covid-19, don’t we?
