To prevent surprises and manage toll on businesses, have a ‘Covid index’ to predict risk, MPs say

• Parliament approves more than S$2 billion to be spent on support measures
• These cover the impact on businesses and workers during the heightened alert periods
• Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said the Government will need to tighten spending if more restrictions are imposed
• A total of 25 MPs rose to speak during the five-hour debate, with 2 suggesting there be a risk index for Covid-19 
• MPs were concerned as well about the toll on the well-being of migrant workers, students and other job holders

SINGAPORE — The disruptions to businesses and daily routines caused by changes to infection control measures have prompted at least two Members of Parliament (MPs) to suggest that a risk indicator for Covid-19 be used for the public to get a handle on the disease spread and its management.

This was during a debate on Tuesday (July 27) before Parliament approved spending more than S$2 billion on support measures to help workers and businesses that have been grappling with tightened restrictions since May.

Over five hours, 25 MPs rose to speak, including some who said that the changing regulations to control the disease spread and the complex conditions for support schemes have caused confusion, disruption and anxiety over the past couple of months.

Singapore went into a heightened alert phase in May when coronavirus cases with unknown origins spiked in the community and household transmission went up.

Dining and other social activities were controlled but the Government eased certain rules in mid-June — only to dial them back this month when two big clusters broke in KTV nightclubs and Jurong Fishery Port.

Mr Gerald Giam, MP for Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC), said that the recent rolling back of restrictions caught many by surprise.

He and West Coast GRC MP Foo Mee Har suggested that a form of “Covid index” would give workers and businesses an easy way of tracking risk levels and adapt accordingly.

The index could take into account infection rates and weigh various factors including vaccination, hospitalisation and testing rates so that the public may better predict if any future restrictions will need to be imposed, they said.

Singaporeans and businesses need more clarity on how the country’s reopening is going to happen, Mr Giam said.

“An objective, science-based Covid-19 risk index will help assure the public that safe management measures imposed by the Government are appropriate for the given risk levels.”

It will thereby convince more people to comply with the safety rulings, he added.

Ms Foo said that having such an index can help instil a "shared sense of vigilance and ownership" and help shift the people’s focus away from just looking at infection rates.

Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, who is also the co-chair of the Government’s Covid-19 task force, said that the recent outbreak of cases had come without warning, which was why stricter restrictions had to be re-imposed from July 22.

In the days before the KTV cluster emerged, daily recorded cases were in the single digits and were trending downwards. 

“Any risk dashboard would tell you that things were okay,” Mr Wong said. “If you look at the facts today, I am fully convinced that that was the right judgement call.”

He added that the task force has been upfront and transparent in its assessment of the Covid-19 situation at its regular news conferences.

SUPPORTING BUSINESSES

During the debate, many MPs also called for more help for businesses, especially the small- and medium-sized enterprises that employ the bulk of Singapore’s workforce. 

Others raised concerns about workers in temporary job roles that support contact-tracing and vaccination work who may soon find themselves out of a job and migrant workers who have been largely confined in their dormitories.

The financial aid being given by the Government to tide over these heightened alert periods includes rental relief for businesses, enhanced wage support through the Jobs Support Scheme and other targeted help for affected groups.

The latest round of support measures totalling S$1.1 billion for the return to Phase 2 (heightened alert) was announced by the Ministry of Finance last Friday.

Mr Wong first delivered a ministerial statement on the measures on July 5 and another on Monday. 

In his close to 50-minute speech on Tuesday to wrap up the debate, he detailed how the support measures would help various sectors through the tightened regulations and how the Government is preparing to gear up for a post-pandemic world.

While the Government has made clear its roadmap towards the country’s reopening, he cannot rule out the possibility of future setbacks and extra restrictions, he said.

“At that stage, we will have to put in place another package to support businesses.”

The budget for the support measures, which is more than S$2 billion, was financed by reallocating underutilised funds from various government agencies. 

“If we have to provide additional support later in this fiscal year, we will likely need to tighten government spending across both operating and development expenditure to free up resources.”

MOVEMENT OF MIGRANT WORKERS  

Mr Melvin Yong, MP for Radin Mas, and Nee Soon GRC MP Louis Ng said that more attention should be given to the migrant workers grappling with isolation.

Since the flare-up of cases in April last year among the migrant workers and in the workers’ dormitories, they have been confined largely to their rooms and worksites due to strict movement curbs.

Mr Ng asked if the Government had any concrete plans to ease restrictions for these workers and whether more facilities could be opened up for them to relax and unwind outside of their dorms and worksites.

Mr Wong acknowledged their concerns in his speech. After Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh pressed him for a plan to reintegrate these workers into the wider community, Mr Wong said that the task force is looking at this matter without specifying any timeline or details.

Mr Wong noted that the vaccination rate for workers living in dormitories is very high but the Government is worried that they might catch the coronavirus during this current outbreak within the community.

“We are very, very mindful of the mental well-being of these workers.”

A SECOND PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL

Ms Raeesah Khan, MP for Sengkang GRC, would like the Government to look into setting up a second tertiary psychiatric hospital and a Professional Conversion Programme for counsellors, similar to the one for social workers and allied health professionals offered by government agency Workforce Singapore.

The Institute of Mental Health is Singapore’s only psychiatric hospital.

The psychological toll of the pandemic on the population and the recent conversation on mental health among students after a 13-year-old boy at River Valley High School was allegedly killed by a schoolmate, have raised the importance of improving mental health resources, she said.

“We need to re-evaluate how we approach mental health in our educational institutions,” she added.

ALTERNATIVE TEST METHODS

Nominated Member of Parliament Tan Yia Swam urged the Government to consider shifting towards less intrusive methods of Covid-19 testing such as using breathalysers or saliva samples for its rostered routine testing programmes.

The present procedure of using nasal swab tests, especially the polymerase chain reaction tests, are not only expensive but harmful in rare circumstances, the medical doctor said.

TEMPORARY WORKERS

Mr Sharael Taha, MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, asked what can be done to avoid structural unemployment of the thousands of workers in temporary roles such as swabbers and safe-distancing ambassadors.

In reply, Mr Wong said that as the economy recovers, more jobs will be created and the demand for manpower will rise.

The Government is monitoring the situation closely and will ensure that they will be able to find jobs once the need for these temporary roles subsides.

The current Jobs Growth Incentive, for example, provides salary support for employers who expand their hiring of resident workers. 

The Government is reviewing whether to extend this scheme beyond September this year, Mr Wong added.