After Deltacron, A New Mutant Strain Emerges: Singapore's Passenger Arrivals And Departures Soar

New variant strain of coronary disease discovered in Israel

The Ministry of Health of Israel has discovered a new variant strain of coronavirus, which combines 2 variant strains of Omicron subtype BA.1 and BA.2, which have not yet been found in other countries.

Authorities detected the new strain in two arriving passengers. According to Israel’s national epidemiological advisor Zarqa, the new strain has not yet shown new characteristics and remains to be seen.

Singapore residents book outbound trips in droves

As countries continue to relax their coronary control measures and expand their travel corridor programs for vaccinated people, more people are regaining confidence in traveling abroad.

Travel platform Haklu’s Singapore general manager Ying Wen Yue revealed in an interview with the Union-Tribune that compared to January this year, the average booking for travel products this month has increased by as much as two times. Popular travel destinations include the United States, Malaysia, Thailand, Europe, etc.

After Deltacron, A New Mutant Strain Emerges: Singapore's Passenger Arrivals And Departures Soar

Singapore currently has travel lanes with 32 countries and regions for vaccinators, with the latest to join the ranks being Vietnam and Greece, which launched yesterday. Both airline vaccinator travel corridors have been open for vaccinator pass applications since March 13.

As of this Monday, the Civil Aviation Authority approved more than 100,000 airline VTP applications for Malaysia and Indonesia, according to the Union-Tribune. As of this Monday (March 14), a total of 1,171 Greek and Vietnamese travelers applied for VTPs to be allowed to enter Singapore between yesterday (March 16) and May 13.

With the epidemic slowing down and vaccination rates rising, confidence in cross-country travel is gradually being restored. Various airlines have also made corresponding adjustments, such as increasing the frequency of VTL flights and expanding the number of airline staff. It is believed that the tourism industry will also gradually recover.

From today, no appointment is needed for vaccination

Starting today (March 17), all eligible citizens can receive vaccinations and additional doses at the vaccination center before 7 p.m. daily without an appointment.

Children between the ages of 5 and 11 can visit the center without an appointment, accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Young people between the ages of 12 and 17 can only receive the vaccine and additional doses at centers that offer Pfizer vaccine, while those over 18 years of age can visit any mRNA vaccination center islandwide.

Growth rate remains below 1.0 for 15 consecutive days

The ratio of the increase in the number of confirmed cases in the first seven days is 0.76 relative to the previous seven days, meaning that for every 100 cases in the previous period, there are 76 cases in the current period.

New mutated strain after deltacron; significant increase in the number of travelers to and from Singapore
The case growth ratio remained below 1.0 for 15 consecutive days.

Among the new local cases in the past 28 days, 99.7% were asymptomatic or mild, 0.2% were/are in serious illness with general oxygen infusion, 0.04% were/are in serious illness in ICU (oxygen observation + critical intubation), and 0.05% died. Percentage data are rounded.