Reopening S'pore too quickly could undo 'circuit-breaker' efforts: Gan Kim Yong

REOPENING Singapore too early and too quickly could lead to an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases that could undo the efforts of the "circuit-breaker" measures, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said on Thursday as he urged patience.

He was responding to a question from Lim Biow Chuan, Member of Parliament for Mountbatten, who asked if the government would consider allowing food and beverage (F&B) outlets to offer dine-in options in the first phase of Singapore's reopening, as long as they implement safe-distancing measures, taking reference from places like Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Mr Lim said many F&B businesses are concerned whether they can sustain through this prolonged closure of businesses and may already be insolvent by the time they are allowed to reopen in phase two.

Mr Gan said: "We need to remember that reopening F&B is not just about allowing workers to work, it also means you must allow customers to go there and eat and dine in. And when we allow that, that means you must allow gatherings. And if you allow gatherings at F&B, you must also allow gatherings outside.

"Therefore, it will actually lead to a general opening of the economy, of the society, of the community, and allow social gatherings of a certain number of people. And therefore, this will actually be a consideration for phase two."

He cautioned against reopening too early and too quickly, as there is a real risk of a resurgence in the number of cases or clusters, which may require the government to reimpose strict measures that would slow down the pace of opening.

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This was the case in South Korea, which recently had to close down some schools again, he said, reiterating the need for a more cautious approach.

Mr Gan said overall, Singapore's "circuit breaker", which ended on June 1, was painful but necessary to slow the transmission in the community. This has helped to bring the daily number of community cases down to "low single digits" towards the end of the "circuit breaker", from the high of an average of 30 per day previously.

However, he pointed out that there are still infections in dormitories and undetected cases in the community, as evidenced from the unlinked cases discovered from time to time. Meanwhile, the global situation has not fully stabilised as some countries are seeing a new wave of infection after they reopen, he said, adding that Singapore must remain vigilant as it exits the "circuit breaker".

At the same time, the Republic is learning from other countries that have lowered their risk alert level and begun reopening their economies. Mr Gan noted that while Hong Kong, the UK and Germany have limited social gatherings to a small number of people, Singapore has decided to maintain tight restrictions until phase two, when gatherings of up to five people will be allowed.

Singapore is also adopting safe-distancing measures and the wearing of masks, like Taiwan and New Zealand, while using digital solutions to enable faster contact tracing like Australia, China, Israel and South Korea.

"The last and most important lesson we have learnt from other countries is that we cannot be complacent, as there is always the risk of a second wave of the virus," Mr Gan said.

While Singapore has seen a steady decline in the number of community cases, he said this is probably the effect of the "circuit breaker".

Hence, a rise in the number of new community cases is to be expected as activity levels and person-to-person interaction increase after the "circuit breaker", he added.

This is why the multi-ministry task force, Singapore's coronavirus response team, has taken a cautious and graduated approach to ensure safe opening in phase one, Mr Gan said.

This means the resumption of economic activities that do not pose high risk of transmission, such as manufacturing and production operations and work in office settings that have little to no interaction with customers.

The government is also working with dormitory operators to strengthen management practices so that workers can live safely in dorms. Mr Gan noted that while the number of cases detected among the migrant worker population may remain high for some time, some of them may be past infections and are not active cases.

Schools, student care centres and pre-schools will also reopen progressively, with precautionary measures in place.

Mr Gan said the task force will closely monitor the effects of these increased activity in phase one, and if the community transmission rates and the dormitory situation remain under control, Singapore can then move on to phase two.

"As restrictions are eased and more activities resume, it becomes even more critical that each of us exercise strong social responsibility to ensure that community transmission remains low," he said, adding that this means everyone needs to wear a mask when outside, maintain good personal hygiene, and observe safe-opening measures.