On March 19, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced 32 new confirmed cases of Covid-19.

24 cases were "imported", or detected in people coming from overseas, with 12 from the UK alone.

However, just eight were cases of local transmission, with seven patients recovering and able to be discharged from hospital.

This continued a trend, with imported cases making up a majority of new confirmed cases in Singapore on March 18, March 17, March 16 and March 15.

Border controls help to slow community transmission in Singapore

Despite the number of imported cases being triple the number of local transmissions, there is both good news and bad news.

The bad news is that Covid-19 is still spreading in other countries, where Singaporeans, PRs and residents abroad may have contracted the disease.

But on the other hand, the fact that these cases were detected early upon their arrival into Singapore will help to prevent community spread within Singapore itself.

In addition, early detection will help to cut down on the amount of contact tracing that needs to be performed.

Majority are Singaporeans coming home

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong stated in a press conference yesterday, March 18, that the majority of such imported cases consist of Singaporean residents who are returning to the country.

Some cases were identified at the airport while others were identified "shortly after they come home and see a doctor." Added Wong:

"Even with these controls, we have to be mentally prepared for the number of imported cases to continue rising in the coming days.

That is simply because we already know that there are more Singaporeans wanting to come back to Singapore."

Wong elaborated that Singapore has stepped up its border controls, requiring any visitor coming into Singapore, from any country, to serve a 14-day Stay-Home Notice.

Wong added that while Singapore hopes to avoid a lockdown, the possibility can't be ruled out at this stage.

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Top image from Lawrence Wong's Facebook page.