ELD did its best to ensure polls were conducted safely amid Covid-19 pandemic: Lawrence Wong

• Mr Lawrence Wong said that election officials did their best to ensure polls were done safely
• Any flare-ups in cases would be reported and highlighted should they happen
• Mr Wong said that people who joined the crowds will be taken to task if the authorities can track them down

SINGAPORE — National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said that the queues that formed during the General Election (GE) last Friday may not necessarily cause a flare-up in the transmission of Covid-19.

Stressing that the Elections Department (ELD) had done its best to ensure that the polls were conducted safely, Mr Wong said that polling was done in open spaces and people were spaced apart.

“Even if you’re queuing up, it’s not as though there’s close contact in terms of touching, talking,” he said at a press conference on Friday (July 17) by the governmental task force tackling the pandemic.

Mr Wong, who co-chairs the task force, was answering a question on whether Singapore is likely to see a resurgence in cases because of the crowds at the polls.

He said that any flare-ups in cases will be reported and highlighted should they happen.

“Let’s not jump to the conclusion just because we see queues forming,” he said. “Queueing per se is not an activity that would necessarily cause the transmission of the virus.”

ELD has apologised to voters thrice for the queues that formed on Polling Day and said that it would conduct a thorough review of what went wrong.

Irate voters had lamented the snaking queues at some polling centres last Friday, which resulted in the unprecedented move to close polling stations two hours later.

In the wee hours of the following day, celebrations broke out in some parts of Singapore.

In particular, groups of Workers’ Party (WP) supporters gathered for a celebration at and around a coffee shop at 322 Hougang Avenue 5. This was after the opposition party retained the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and Hougang single-seat ward, and wrested Sengkang GRC from the ruling People’s Action Party.

Mr Wong said that while those who took part in these celebrations that night were wearing masks, the “moment got the better of them”.

He said that the authorities would take them to task if they find out who they are, though he acknowledged that there were “quite a number of them”.

He said that every time people let down their guard and “abandon caution”, they could put themselves and the country at risk.

Asked if there was a change in the enforcement stance given that enforcement officers appeared to have held back, especially in the hours after polling closed, Mr Wong said no.

Enforcement officers continue to be deployed to act against individuals who flout the rules, where necessary. He said that no amount of enforcement can work if the “whole country” decides to gather to celebrate, again stressing the importance of individual responsibility.

Mr Wong and Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, the other task force co-chair, were also asked if they would remain at the helm of the Covid-19 task force after a Cabinet reshuffle, which is expected shortly after the GE.

Mr Gan replied that he could not answer that “pre-emptive question” because the Cabinet line-up has not been announced and the work of the task force will continue, whether or not the same co-chairs are leading it.

“We want to ensure that the work of the multi-ministry task force is not slackened as a result of (any) change in portfolio or change of Cabinet positions,” he said.