Minister paints 3 scenarios Singapore must prepare for

Singapore

IN Parliament on Monday, the two ministers leading efforts against the novel coronavirus gave an update of the situation, set out current measures and highlighted scenarios for which Singapore must be prepared.

Ahead of the upcoming Budget package of measures to support affected firms, interim help will be given where possible, said Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong, co-chair of the multi-ministry taskforce on the novel coronavirus.

Wherever possible, the government will develop and roll out initiatives for firms "without having to wait for the Budget", he said, in reply to Member of Parliament Alex Yam.

The Singapore Tourism Board has already announced initial support such as covering up to half of cleaning and disinfection costs for hotels with suspect cases, and "is studying if more can be done".

In a ministerial statement, Mr Wong gave a rundown of measures that have been taken so far, from border controls and detection and isolation, to help for affected sectors.

Typically, about 14,000 Chinese nationals fly from China to Singapore each day. After the Chinese government imposed outbound restrictions on its citizens on Jan 23, this number fell by more than 80 per cent.

Nonetheless, recognising that there was still a regular flow of travellers from China and monitoring it carefully, Singapore took further steps: first, on Jan 28, by disallowing visitors with recent travel history in Hubei; then on Jan 31, by disallowing all new visitors with recent travel history in the rest of mainland China.

For affected firms and workers, quarantine allowance is provided, and the Ministry of Manpower and the National Trades Union Congress will work with employers to support affected workers and protect their livelihoods, said Mr Wong.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development is also reaching out to those under quarantine, and will provide ComCare financial assistance and social support to those in need.

As previously announced, there will be targeted support to sectors such as tourism and transport that are directly hit, and related industries and firms. "Besides these specific sectors, we recognise that there will be knock-on impacts on related industries in the event of a broad-based slowdown," he added - thus the upcoming Budget package.

The government will also consider taking action against irresponsible behaviour, such as landlords who evict Chinese tenants who are on their leave of absence, said Mr Wong.

If landlords start turning tenants away, containment efforts will be much harder, and "the outcome will be completely counterproductive", he noted. In specific cases, the government will engage such landlords, and may have to "see if tougher action needs to be taken".

Taskforce co-chair Gan Kim Yong, who is Minister for Health, gave an update on the situation and what is known so far, while warning that "there could be a long road ahead".

Singapore is preparing for various scenarios, he said.

The key to managing this is quick detection and limiting further spread, which calls for social responsibility from all of us, said Mr Gan. If an infected person wears a mask to protect others, promptly sees a doctor, and gets triaged for testing, the risk of further spread could be greatly reduced.

If community spread becomes very extensive, Singapore will need to consider moves such as cancelling mass gatherings, suspending schools, paring down non-essential care services and introducing further infection control and monitoring measures.

On the healthcare front, the government has been stepping up preparations for these scenarios by increasing its isolation bed capacity by around 100 in the last two weeks and increasing its testing capacity.

Singapore will also put together an assistance package to help communities in China severely affected by the virus, added Mr Gan. More details will be provided later.

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