SINGAPORE (Apr 21): Singapore is injecting another $3.8 billion in relief measures to help Singaporeans and local businesses tide through the circuit breaker which has been extended to end on June 1, from the previously announced May 4.
See: Covid-19 circuit breaker measures to extend till June 1: PM Lee
The additional measures announced on Tuesday builds on the initiatives unveiled previously in the April 6 Solidarity Budget as well as the Unity Budget on Feb 18 and the Resilience Budget on Mar 26.
Collectively, total relief measures doled out by the government to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak now amounts to $63.7 billion.
“We understand that the enhanced measures and circuit breaker extension will have a significant impact on our workers,” noted Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat in a press conference.
In this vein, the government is extending its 75% wage co-payment for the first $4,600 of each Singaporean employee, till May. The serves to help businesses retain workers and benefits all 1.9 million local workers.
Additionally, the scheme will be extended to shareholders and directors of companies who were previously not eligible for the Jobs Support Scheme and Self Employed Persons Scheme.
For most companies outside of the aviation and tourism sectors, the wage offset is slated to revert to a 25% wage subsidy from June till the end of the year.
“I urge all business owners to do your best to retain your workers and make use of the various grants for training and other schemes for upgrading corporate capabilities,” stressed Heng.
He also extended the monthly foreign worker levy waiver to May, to ease the financial strain of companies employing foreign workers on work permits and S-passes. Employers will also receive an additional $750 in foreign worker levy rebates for each work permit or S pass holder.
See: Government injects additional $5.1 bil in Covid-19 relief measures as month-long circuit breaker kicks in
Tighter circuit breaker
As the circuit breaker continues, the government says it will further tighten the list of services allowed to remain operational. This will be done across businesses in all sectors as well as those requiring frequent consumer interaction such as the food and beverage sector, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong.
Citing analysis of the new community cases since the circuit breaker kicked in, Wong, who is also co-chair of the multi-ministry taskforce on Covid-19 stressed this is a critical move.
“We realised that the local infected cases that occurred after the circuit breaker, many of them have been working as part of essential services or have family members who are working because these are the people out and about”.
The aim is to cut the proportion of the workforce still commuting to work to 15% from the current 20%, he added.
Wong also called for people to stay home and reduce going out, unless for essential errands or exercise.
“The virus spreads through people. When we go out and interact with others or touch surfaces and then our hands touch our faces. Yes, we can take precautions such as safe distancing and wearing of masks, but the best way to beat the virus is to stay home,” he stressed
“If you need to go out to buy food or groceries, go out alone. Don’t turn this into an occasion for a family outing”.
As such, the government will hunker down its efforts by only permitting entry into popular areas such as at supermarkets and selected wet markets, once in two days. Visitors to these hotspots will be tracked using the last four digits of their NRIC number.
Meanwhile, a greater area of concern is the spread of the virus amongst migrant workers, mainly in dormitories. As at 12pm on Tuesday, Singapore reported 1,111 cases of Covid-19, of which 1,083 were among work permit holders. The remaining 28 cases for the day was within the community. At this level, the total number of infections in the republic stands at 9,125.
To curb further transmission among migrant workers, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said stay home notices have been issued to all workers living in dormitories. The notice also applies to employees of companies who had previously obtained an exemption to operate during the circuit breaker.
For now, the effectiveness of the measures adopted to reduce transmission of the coronavirus is left to be seen. However, the taskforce stresses it is doing its best to address pressing concerns.
As Heng says, “we cannot be certain of when the crisis will end. But what is certain is we are here for you, to support you”.
