SINGAPORE, Apr 18 (NNN-CNA) – Singapore government began to implement stricter measures to minimise the COVID-19 spread last week. These measures, called as Circuit Breaker, include closing of most workplaces except for essential services. However, the number of newly confirmed cases has been hitting new daily records this week.
Singapore’s National Development Minister, Lawrence Wong, said that, the city-state was dealing with two infections in Singapore, which are the infections in the foreign worker dormitories and the infections in the general population.
Statistics show that Singapore had only 38 confirmed cases, residing in foreign worker dormitories before Apr 3, but the number skyrocketed to 2,689 by Apr 16, accounting for over 60 percent of all confirmed cases.
Wong said that the infection in foreign worker dormitories was a very challenging task and required new organisation and new protocols for dormitories and workers, strict and firm measures, and empathy and understanding for the well-being and the needs of the workers.
By Apr 17, Singapore declared 12 dormitories as isolation areas where workers at these lodgings must be quarantined in their rooms for 14 days.
Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, promised on Apr 10, that the city-state would do its best to take care of foreign workers’ health, livelihood and welfare here, and to let them go home, safe and sound.
He said, the government responded comprehensively to contain the COVID-19 spread in dorms, and to protect foreign workers. An inter-agency task force was set up, to handle the situation in the dorms, and it deployed Forward Assurance and Support Teams in all the dorms. These teams worked closely with dorm operators and could respond quickly to the workers’ essential needs.
Besides, Singapore Tourism Board announced this Friday that, the government is studying the feasibility of using two mid-sized cruise ships as temporary accommodation for foreign workers, who have recovered from COVID-19 and tested negative for the virus. The authority said, the move was to further manage COVID-19 transmissions and to allow health measures to be implemented more effectively in existing dormitories by reducing the number of workers there.
Before Apr, Singapore’s official advice is that only those who are sick should wear masks and those who are well should not. But on Apr 3, the prime minister said, the government would no longer discourage people from wearing masks, as wearing a mask may help to protect others.
Lee said, the former official advice was based on scientific advice and guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO), and there was no community spread in Singapore, when the advice was given. “Nevertheless, the government gave each household four surgical masks, to use in case you got sick, and to give people peace of mind,” he added.
However, the situation was changing, the prime minister said. The government thought there were some cases out there in the community going undetected, and it had evidence that an infected person can show no symptoms, and yet still pass on the virus to others.
To support this policy change, the government began to distribute reusable masks to all households on Apr 5. Meanwhile, many community groups have been making and distributing reusable masks.
Completing mask distribution, the government took a further step and make it mandatory for everyone to wear mask when they go out, except for children below the age of two and those who are engaging in strenuous exercise like running or jogging, said Lawrence Wong.– NNN-CNA
