Singapore rejects tightening of COVID restrictions, announces aid for struggling businesses

Finance Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday said there is no need for "further tightening" of the already-in-place COVID-19 safety restrictions in Singapore, as he announced a slew of welfare measures for businesses affected by the pandemic.

Wong, who co-chairs the COVID-19 Multi-Ministry Task Force, said the support measures would aid businesses during the current Phase II of restrictions, also called 'Heightened Alert', which are to last till June 13.

Under the 'Jobs Support Scheme', 800 million Singapore dollars (USD 604 million) has been earmarked for enhanced wage subsidies and rental relief.

"It's been nearly two weeks since we last announced the current round of measures (Phase II) to deal with the outbreak of cases in Singapore. Our assessment is that the measures are working, and they are having an effect in controlling the spread of the virus," he said.

"We are continuing to monitor the situation very closely," Channel News Asia quoted Wong as saying. The government will give a detailed update on Monday at the next Multi-Ministry Task Force press conference.

"For now, we believe that the measures are working, they are having an effect in helping us curb the spread of the virus and therefore we do not think there is a need for further tightening in our overall posture," he told reporters.

He said that without restrictions the number of COVID-19 cases could have increased "exponentially".

Wong lauded Singapore residents for cooperating with the restrictions, but cautioned against complacency.

"COVID-19 is likely to be around for sometime and we will all have a role to play to develop more resilient strategies to adapt to this new environment," said Wong.

"So working together, I'm confident that we can overcome this current setback and emerge stronger, more resilient and more united than before," he said.

The latest round of restrictions were imposed on May 16 to June 13 after the number of infections started to increase, especially originating from the Changi Airport.

Currently, only two people are allowed in group gatherings, down from five previously.

Singapore has directed against unnecessary social interactions. Dining-in at food and beverage establishments is banned. Only essential services are allowed. The rest, if possible, have to opt for work from home.

The government on Thursday said it will tighten border control measures for visitors who have travelled recently to Australia''s Victoria state after a spike in COVID-19 cases there.

The Multi-Ministry Taskforce has been closely monitoring the global COVID-19 situation.

"We will tighten our border measures for travellers from Victoria State, Australia given the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases there," said the Ministry on Thursday.

Last week, Victoria reported new cases of the highly infectious variant of COVID-19 first detected in India.

From 11.59 pm on Saturday (May 29), short-term travellers holding an Air Travel Pass with travel history to Victoria within the last 21 days will not be allowed to enter Singapore.

Meanwhile, Singapore reported 15 new COVID-19 cases in the community area on Friday.

Along with these, 15 cases have been reported amongst foreign incoming travellers. All of them have been placed on 'stay-home notice', the Health Ministry said.

As of Thursday, Singapore has reported a total of 61,970 COVID-19 cases and 32 related fatalities.