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CORONAVIRUS The | Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that after reducing the number of new Covid-19 cases, Singapore can ease the measures of the switches and gradually restart its economy.
“This will not be easy. We need to step up Covid-19 testing and speed up contact tracking. And we must proceed with caution, with safeguards, so that (the) infections do not flare up again, ”he said in his May 1st 2020 Message that was televised live today.
Singapore began its stringent circuit breaker measures on April 7 and scheduled for completion on June 1.
“We have kept essential services running. But the rest of the economy will have to open up step by step, and not all at once. Some industries will open earlier than others and recover earlier.
“For example, those critical of keeping our economy running nationwide. And those that keep us connected to the world and to global supply chains, ”he said.
Other sectors will have to wait, especially those that draw crowds or involve close contacts with other people, such as entertainment venues and large-scale sporting events.
Lee noted that all of these industries must be kept intact, ready to resume business when conditions allow, therefore, “this requires close cooperation between companies, workers and the government.”
“Tourism and aviation will most likely take much longer to recover than other sectors because international travel will continue to be restricted as long as Covid-19 remains a worldwide problem,” he said.
Lee acknowledged that the pandemic has come at a high cost in the global economy with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projecting the largest decline in global gross domestic product (GDP) since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
“As an open economy, Singapore has felt the brunt of this recession. Trade and investment, our lifeblood, have been disrupted. Without help, good companies, big and small, will close their businesses and many workers will lose their jobs.
“Governments around the world are spending large sums to prevent their economies from collapsing and to take care of their peoples,” he said, adding that the Singapore government has also done so, through the Unity, Resilience and Solidarity Budgets, S $ 60 billion in total.
Updating on the status of Covid-19, Lee said: “In Singapore, it was almost a month since we imposed our circuit breaker. We now have about 10-15 new community cases daily. We have made significant progress, but we have more to do. ”
At 12 noon today, Singapore reported 528 new cases of Covid-19 infections, bringing the count to 16,169 cases.
As of Wednesday’s count of 15,641, Singapore classified 1,192 as community cases, 571 imported cases and 524 cases related to work permit holders not residing in dormitories.
Meanwhile, foreign workers in the dormitories dominated the account in about 85 percent or 13,354 cases, and most cases showed mild symptoms.
– Bernama
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