S$650m in support for firms hit by tightened Covid-19 restrictions amid exponential surge in cases

Singapore

THE Singapore government is rolling out S$650 million worth of measures to support businesses most affected by new Covid-19 restrictions set to kick in on Monday, as the country battles an exponential rise in infections in its endeavour to reach a stage of living with the virus endemically.

From Sept 27 to Oct 24, social gatherings and dine-in capacity will be pared down to groups of two for the third time this year, a reduction from the current permissible group size of up to five persons, the Republic's Covid-19 multi-ministry taskforce said on Friday.

Work-from-home will be the default for employees who are able to do so, while those who are unable to work from home are strongly encouraged to do an antigen rapid test every week.

Home-based learning, already planned to take place from Sept 27 to Oct 6 for primary and special education schools, will be extended by a day to Oct 7.

"We had all hoped that we could put these restrictions behind us, especially with our high vaccination rates and with our plans to move forward to a Covid-resilient nation," said taskforce co-chair Lawrence Wong.

"But the reality is that with the current infection trajectory, our healthcare system and our healthcare workers are facing many pressures, and that's why we had to make this very difficult decision to apply some brakes and to slow down the rate of transmission," said Mr Wong.

Daily cases are now at about 1,600 and the taskforce estimates this could reach 3,200 by next week, although it is uncertain when cases will peak and at what level.

Mr Wong, who is also Finance Minister, said the reduction of group sizes will have an impact on the food and beverage (F&B) and retail sectors as well as other businesses that are dependent on footfall, which is why the government will provide a support package to assist them.

The bulk of the S$650 million package will be used to raise wage support to 25 per cent under the Jobs Support Scheme for affected sectors, including F&B, retail, cinemas, museums and gyms.

The package will also pay for rental waivers for tenants and stallholders at government-managed markets and food centres; rental relief for qualifying occupiers of privately-owned commercial properties; as well as an extension to the Covid-19 Driver Relief Fund.

Despite the tightening, Mr Wong said this does not signal a return to the "heightened alert" phase, and the taskforce is still committed to its reopening plans, adding that it has left many other parameters - including mask-on vaccinated events - unchanged.

The measures are unlikely to reduce infection numbers, which are expected to continue rising, he said. But they will slow the pace of the increase, buying time for the authorities to stabilise the healthcare system and add new capacity so that they can be better prepared.

Over the past week, there have been several reports of frustration and confusion among those who have tested positive, mostly on the reportedly slow response of the authorities in supporting them.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said: "I fully acknowledge that the past few days have been frustrating for you, if you're undergoing home recovery, so... we have taken immediate action to address these concerns."

This includes increasing resources for hotline manning and telemedicine, as well as getting support from the Singapore Armed Forces and the People's Association.

While home recovery remains the default care management protocol for fully vaccinated individuals aged 12 to 69, Community Treatment Facilities (CTF) will be expanded for those who are stable but at greater risk.

Compared to Community Care Facilities, CTFs are stepped up to better monitor and manage patients with chronic illnesses, he said. The number of such beds will be ramped up from 3,500 to 4,600 by the end of this week.

These facilities will be closely partnered with hospitals so that there will be seamless escalation protocols for patients to be conveyed to an acute hospital if necessary.

The first CTF opened on Thursday at NTUC Health Nursing Home (Tampines) with 250 beds. Over the next few weeks, 700 beds will be ready at Connect@Changi, with another 200 at Sengkang General Hospital.

"Even as we prepare ourselves with all the things I said we were doing to handle 2,500 to 3,000 cases a day, we will start activating the plans to be ready to handle 5,000 cases a day," said Mr Ong.

Meanwhile, Singapore is extending its vaccine booster programme to individuals aged 50 to 59 from Oct 4. The expert committee of Covid-19 vaccination has recommended this group for a booster dose due to its higher risk of underlying co-morbidities and severe illness compared with younger groups.

The committee also recommended halving the dosage for the Moderna vaccine to 50mcg for boosters, as it is "sufficient to boost immune response significantly" while ensuring efficient use of vaccines, said the Ministry of Health.

Singapore's booster programme for those 60 and above began on Sept 15, and as of Sept 23, almost 91,500 seniors have gotten their jab.