SINGAPORE, June 1 — A big relief to all but certainly not without its risks, said Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, referring to more circuit breaker measures to be lifted starting tomorrow (June 2) that will see the reopening of up three-quarters of the economy and a third of its workforce returning to work.
“The number of daily cases in the community has come down considerably. More patients have now recovered and have been discharged than those still receiving care. However, Covid-19 is still far from defeated,” Lee said in his latest Facebook update.
As at noon today, Singapore has confirmed 408 new cases of Covid-19 bringing the tally to 35,292 with all new cases involving migrant workers residing in dormitories and no cases in the community. A total of 21,699 patients, or about 63 per cent from yesterday’s tally of 34,884, have fully recovered.
As many are looking forward to seeing their friends in school again, visiting parents and grandparents, Lee advised that they “must remain cautious and vigilant”.
“Please keep your guard up. Maintain safe distancing, wear masks when outdoors and at work, watch your personal hygiene and wash hands frequently. Avoid crowds and gatherings.
“If we all do these, then life can go on more or less normally after the circuit breaker. We don’t want Covid-19 cases to spike up again, and be forced to tighten up once more,” he wrote.
“Even after a vaccine is found, everything will not simply go back to the way it was before. Covid-19 has exposed how vulnerable our way of life is. But it has also given us the opportunity to prove our mettle, and come back stronger,” he said.
As the eight-week long circuit breaker which took effect on April 7 ends, the prime minister thanked everyone again for playing their part so that Singapore can now reopen safely.
“We must all keep at it together. Do not allow the sacrifices of our healthcare workers and others who have kept Singapore running to be in vain,” he wrote before ending his posting with his initial, LHL.
The republic will now embark on a controlled approach to resume activities safely over three phases which are Phase One (Safe Re-opening), planned to be done in two-incubation periods; followed by Phase Two (Safe Transition), and Phase Three (Safe Nation).
Singapore on April 26 announced its fourth budget known as the “Fortitude Budget” worth S$33 billion for the next phase of its fight against Covid-19.
Over four months, Singapore has tabled four budgets, the first of which was a normal annual budget, the S$10.9 billion “Unity Budget” on Feb 18, followed by the S$48 billion “Resilience Budget” on March 26, and S$5.1 billion “Solidarity Budget” on April 6. — Bernama
