SINGAPORE (Apr 21): Singapore has extended the "circuit breaker" period to curb the coronavirus spread by another month to June 1, as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday warned of a "hidden reservoir" of potential infections.
In his fourth address to the nation on April 21, Lee said the circuit breaker measures will be tightened. More workplaces will be closed to “minimise the risk of transmission among workers,” he said.
While the number of cases from the dormitories have risen, community cases have fallen in recent days.
However, the number of unlinked cases still need to be reduced.
“This suggests there is a larger, hidden reservoir of cases in the community, that is the source of these unlinked cases, which we have not detected,” he said.
During the extension, circuit breaker measures will be tightened till May 4. More workplaces will be closed to “minimise the risk of transmission among workers”.
See also: 'We are SG United': PM Lee rallies Singaporeans to stand together against Covid-19 pandemic
“The government will continue to help businesses and workers cope,” he added.
“To exit from this circuit breaker, we need to do three things,” the PM concluded.
Citing examples of New Zealand and Germany, Mr Lee said the country has to “open up incrementally in small steps, making sure we’re safe [with each step of the way]”.
The government will also be increasing testing for Covid-19 to detect new cases quickly. To do so, “we are procuring test kits and equipment from other countries, but also by developing and manufacturing our own test kits.”
Lastly, the government will be tracing cases more efficiently by developing other apps, other than the TraceTogether app.
“For these to work, we will need everyone’s cooperation to install and use these apps, like what the South Koreans have done. There will be some privacy concerns, but we will have to weigh these against the benefits of being able to exit from the circuit breaker and stay open safely,” he said.
