Since parts of the economy were reopened from June 19, when we entered Phase Two – Covid-19 infections from workplaces have risen from 22 percent to 36 percent.
At a multi-ministry task force press conference held on July 7, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong urged people to work from home if possible “to further reduce transmission”.
He added that not going into the workplace unless necessary is a precaution that all employers should take because all it takes is one infected person to create a large cluster.
Wong also added: “Should a cluster form in the workplace, we may very well have to ask the employer to shut down their business operations temporarily; and then require every employee to be tested. This will impact the business.”
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said that people with symptoms and are unnlinked to other cases, form a group that ia cause for concern, because their sources of infection remains unknown.
He added that the number of cases will go up due to expanded testing to include patients ages 13 and above who have acute respiratory infections.
Gan also said Singapore is not seeing a second wave of infections yet, “but the risk is always there”.