Should Singapore further tighten border controls on new Covid wave?

Singapore

THERE have been renewed calls for Singapore to completely shut its borders to high-risk countries, as the Republic battles a more infectious wave of Covid-19, but economists say the net costs and benefits may not be that clear-cut.

On May 16, the number of community cases climbed to 38, the highest in over a year, with 17 among these deemed unlinked. At the same time, the Changi Airport cluster has now become the country's largest community cluster, with 78 cases to date. According to sequencing results, the B1617 variant from India is behind this resurgence.