More Covid-19 cases linked to workplace transmissions in Phase 2

WHILE the total number of daily new Covid-19 cases in Singapore has declined since the circuit-breaker period, the proportion of community cases transmitted in workplace settings has risen in the first two phases of Singapore's phased reopening, the multi-ministry taskforce on Covid-19 said on Tuesday.

In Phase 1, workplace transmissions accounted for 22 per cent of linked community cases; this has since increased to 36 per cent with the start of Phase 2 on June 19.

There has also been an uptick in the number of new community cases reported daily, rising to an average of 12 a day in the past week from an average of eight a day in the previous week.

This is expected to increase further in the coming weeks, given that Singapore has resumed economic activities and social interaction for just two weeks, roughly the same as the incubation period for the virus.

The taskforce reiterated that all employers should continue to have their staff work from home unless there is a "clear and demonstrable need" to access specialised equipment or machinery at work.

"We have not seen large clusters in the workplace setting, but the few that we have seen should remind all of us, and all employers in particular, that they really need to take safe-management practices very seriously," said Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong, who is the taskforce co-chair.

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More than half  the community cases since the start of Phase 1 are linked to confirmed cases, and the majority of transmissions among linked community cases continue to take place within households.

More cases have also been detected since the expansion of testing to include those aged 13 years and older who have been diagnosed with acute respiratory infection (ARI) upon first presentation to a doctor.

Said taskforce co-chair and Health Minister Gan Kim Yong: "We should expect the number of community cases, especially those detected through enhanced ARI testing, to start to go up over the next few weeks. We must therefore remain vigilant."

However, the Ministry of Health's director of medical services Kenneth Mak said that there are no plans to revert to Phase 1 or a lockdown after the General Election is over. Mr Gan said that such a decision would not be based only on a particular number of cases, but also on the severity of the cases.

Assoc Prof Mak said: "We continue to keep a close watch on the community, but we don't have active plans to say that immediately after the election, we're going to quickly go back into Phase 1. That's not the case.

"But we are working on our contingencies. We are mindful that we may see clusters emerging in various places. We do not want to be complacent, and as a result, we are working on our responses should any of these scenarios bear fruit."

Among unlinked cases, 47 per cent tested positive in serology tests, indicating that they are likely to be past infections. About half the unlinked cases are from the construction sector or construction-related occupations.

The majority of these cases are also asymptomatic, and were picked up through active surveillance testing of higher-risk groups such as front-line workers, and those working in the construction, marine and process sectors.

Singapore's border controls remain tight, with all travellers isolated under Stay-Home Notices (SHN) upon arrival and tested when they are unwell or before the end of their SHN. As a result of this practice, the 20 imported cases detected in the past week did not come in contact with the community.