COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore
The COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first case in Singapore was confirmed on 23 January 2020. Early cases were primarily imported until local transmission began to develop in February and March. In late March and April, COVID-19 clusters were detected at multiple migrant worker dormitories, which soon contributed to an overwhelming proportion of new cases in the country.
To stem the tide of infections, strict circuit breaker lockdown measures were implemented from 7 April to 1 June 2020, after which restrictions have been gradually lifted as conditions permitted.[4] A mass vaccination campaign was launched, and has been successful in achieving a very high vaccination rate, with more than 96% of the eligible populace having completed their vaccination regimen as of June 2022.[5][6] Various measures have been taken to mass test the population for the virus and isolate infected people. Contact tracing measures SafeEntry and TraceTogether were implemented to identify and quarantine close contacts of positive cases.
The last record of COVID-19 cases was on 4 June 2023, which was at 2,481,404 confirmed cases, 2,456,295 recoveries and 1,727 deaths,[7] with a case fatality rate of 0.08%, one of the lowest in the world.[8] It introduced what was considered one of the world's largest and best-organised epidemic control programmes.[9][10]
Domestic impact[edit]
Legal impact[edit]
To stop the spread of COVID-19, the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 and its Control Order Regulations 2020[148] was brought into force. These rules banned gatherings and led some to be charged in court,[149] fined or even jailed for offences related to these laws.[150][151] A number of people who were on work passes have had their passes revoked and have also been permanently banned from working in Singapore.[152]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an unofficial moratorium on all executions in Singapore for two years, although there are still new death sentences imposed in several capital cases (including convicted murderer Teo Ghim Heng) during the moratorium.[153] The first person to be sentenced to death during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore was Punithan Genasan, a 37-year-old Malaysian who was also the first to be sentenced to death on 15 May 2020 via a remote court hearing on video-conferencing platform Zoom.[154] Punithan, who was convicted of drug trafficking, was later acquitted on 31 October 2022 upon appeal.[155] Eventually, the Singapore government carried out its first execution on 30 March 2022 by hanging 68-year-old Singaporean drug trafficker Abdul Kahar Othman, thus ending the city-state's moratorium on capital punishment.[156] So far, 17 executions (11 in 2022, five in 2023 and one in 2024) were carried out as of 28 February 2024.[157][158][159][160] One of them was Saridewi Djamani, the first woman to be executed since 2004 and Ahmed Salim, the first convicted murderer to be hanged since 2019.[161][162]
After the execution of Ahmed on 28 February 2024, the Singaporean authorities released an official statement and clarified that the COVID-19 pandemic was not the reason behind the two-year pause on executions, but due to the convicts still in the process of appeal or other lawsuits related to their sentences, and the execution could be only be scheduled and carried out once an inmate had exhausted all avenues of appeal available in his case.[163]
Also, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic (especially during the lockdown), virtual court hearings were made through digital video-conferencing platforms (notably Zoom) to hear court cases, which replaced physical court hearings for some cases. The first fully virtual court hearing was made via Zoom on 23 April 2020, when the Court of Appeal acquitted 27-year-old Mohammad Azli Mohammad Salleh of drug trafficking and overturned his death sentence.[164][165]
Economic impact[edit]
The pandemic was forecasted to have a significant impact on the local economy. On 17 February 2020, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) downgraded Singapore's forecast GDP growth to between −0.5% and 1.5%.[166] This is largely due to the fall in tourism and social distancing restrictions.[166] On 26 March, MTI said it believed that the economy would contract by between 1% and 4% in 2020. This was after the economy shrank some 2.2% in the first quarter of 2020 from the same quarter in 2019.[167] On 26 May, the Singapore economy contracted 0.7%YoY, which was better than the expected contraction of 2.2%. However, MTI said that it was revising down its expectation for the Singapore economy in 2020 to shrink by 4% to 7%.[168] Economists were behind the curve in downgrading their numbers. The IMF for example, predicted in October 2019 that growth in 2020 would be 1%, but as a result of COVID-19, had changed their expectation in October 2020 to a contraction of 6%.[169][170] Other institutions initially expected the economy to expand but had to revise their numbers.[171]
On 2 April 2020, the rating's agency Moody's downgraded the Singapore banking sector from "stable" outlook to a "negative" outlook on the back of rising bad loans and deteriorating profitability as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[172] It was estimated by the economist Chua Hak Bin, the lockdown "circuit breaker" beginning on 7 April could impact the economy to the tune of S$10 billion.[173] With the lockdown imposed on foreign workers, there were concerns that there could be delays in construction work of up to six months.[174] Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat announced that some 3,800 companies had closed in April 2020, only slightly higher than the 3,700 reported on average for the same month in the past 5 years. Though he warned that this would likely rise in the coming months. Despite this only small increase in companies shutting down, the number of companies starting up had declined by about a third from the average April since 2015.[175]
On 6 April 2020, it was announced in Parliament that Changi Airport Terminal 2 would be suspended from 1 May 2020 for 18 months due to the ongoing pandemic.[176] Terminal 4 would later be suspended on 16 May indefinitely as well, with the aim to restart operations when travel demand returns.[177] The suspension of Terminal 2 would also allow the ongoing expansion work which was announced in January 2020 to be completed up to a year ahead of schedule in 2023 instead of 2024.[178] The airlines which were operating from these two terminals were largely consolidated into the remaining Terminals 1 and 3, with some airlines remained suspended until further notice.[179]
In November 2020, the MTI announced Singapore's economy contracted 5.8% in the third quarter from the same period in 2019. It also expected the economy to shrink contract by between 6% and 6.5% in 2020, though in 2021 it expected an expansion of between 4% and 6% next year.[180]
Societal impact[edit]
Local shopping[edit]
The retail industry has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, together with the food industry. Foot traffic at shopping malls had dropped,[236] with some shops choosing to shorten their opening hours or face massive closures like Esprit Holdings, Isetan Westgate, Liang Court, H&M Tampines Mall, Topshop, Robinsons and Hotwind.[237]
Local shopping malls saw a decline at the very start of the pandemic in early 2020, but by late February 2020, CapitaLand reported that foot traffic at malls were almost back to normal,[236] before being reduced in late-March to early-April 2020 due to the implementation of circuit breaker measures.[238] Retail sales fell during the COVID-19 pandemic from March to June, citing the circuit breaker measures as reasons. The April and May figure was the worst since records began in 1986. However, retail sales reinstated gradually in July, August and September but the process was interrupted by public places visited by cases in the community. Foot traffic will again resume back to normal fully once Singapore moves to Phase 3. Retail sales and foot traffic again fell during Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) from 3 May 2021 to 14 June 2021.[239]
Because of this, several tenants pushed for rental rebates, citing significant drops in revenue.[240] This was eventually implemented by several malls, including Jewel Changi Airport and CapitaLand-owned malls.[241][242] Suntec City also announced that it would waive the rent for all tenants for the month of April, May and June in 2020.[243] The National Environment Agency (NEA) also implemented rent waivers and rebates for all stallholders in hawker centres operated by NEA or NEA-appointed operators.[244]
In addition, the Great Singapore Sale was moved online, called e-GSS.[245]
Panic buying and price gouging[edit]
Panic buying and price gouging of personal protective equipment (PPEs) such as face masks began with the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Singapore on 23 January 2020.[76] By 24 January, both N95 and surgical masks had run out at retail outlets.[246] This has prompted local retailers including NTUC FairPrice, Watsons and Guardian to originally impose purchase limits.[247] In many areas, people began wearing of masks; but on 1 April, the number of people wearing masks had increased to 93%, with masks made mandatory by the government on 14 April. In addition, mask wearing continues to remain until the pandemic has subsided to endemic levels, with the gradual easing of masks done only in the safest outdoor and common housing environment first. The first phase of mask easing which includes outdoors settings came into force on 29 March 2022.[248][249] The second and final phase of mask easing comes on 29 August 2022; which involves the remaining settings.
The shortage of masks and other PPEs has caused many retailers to engage in profiteering by price gouging and scalping.[250] This included both local brick-and-mortar stores as well as retailers on e-commerce platforms.[250][251] The government has applauded platforms Carousell and Qoo10 for threatening to suspend profiteers.[251] The governmental price controller has also issued warnings to retailers who engage in price gouging and requested information from e-commerce platforms on potential profiteers.[250][252][253]
Panic buying and hoarding of essentials such as rice, instant noodles and toilet paper occurred with the raising of the DORSCON level from yellow to orange on 7 February 2020, with empty shelves at supermarkets within hours.[254][255][256] Local supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice imposed limits on the amount of essentials each consumer can buy, with these limits initially set for paper products, rice products, instant noodle packets and vegetables.[257] NTUC FairPrice and Dairy Farm Singapore announced that it would introduce specific hours for those members of the community who were more vulnerable such as Pioneer Generation members. Following the review, supermarkets are considered essential services, therefore there is no need to hoard items, it must be opened every day.[258]
A second wave of panic buying and hoarding occurred on 17 March when Malaysia announced its Movement Control Order (MCO) from 18 March, sparked by fears of food shortages. The government clarified that the flow of goods, cargo and food supplies between Singapore and Malaysia would continue, urging the public to avoid panic buying. They added that Singapore had diverse sources of essential goods and was not facing an immediate shortage of food or essentials.[259] NTUC FairPrice has expanded its list of items that are limited per consumer to include eggs, vegetables and poultry.[260] 10 days later, NTUC FairPrice expanded its list to include canned food, cooking oil and frozen meat, with reduced purchasing limits for paper products.[261]
To deal with the massive increase in online shopping orders, local e-commerce platform RedMart on 2 April said that it would prioritise daily essentials such as milk powder, flour, eggs and rice while limiting orders to 35 items and reducing its range of goods to focus on the essentials. It also said that it would stop taking orders until 4 April to implement additional measures.[262]
Ahead of tighter measures on 7 April, shoppers queued at shopping malls despite government requests for people to remain at home.[263]
Egg distributors were reporting in June that they now had an oversupply of eggs and were throwing away supplies or culling laying stock.[264]
Events and mass gatherings[edit]
As a result of COVID-19 pandemic, many event organisers and organisations, including places of worship have switched events virtually with more than 250 persons and moving on to 50 persons in the second phase. These include COMEX, IT Show, PC Show and SITEX.[265][266][267][268][269][270][271][272] Thaipusam processions had carried on but with up to 500 persons in 2020.[273][274][275]
Mediacorp postponed its Star Awards ceremony to 2021 and held it at Jewel Changi Airport due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[276] The Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit, which had been held every year in Singapore, was cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic.[277][278] On 12 June 2020, it was announced that the Singapore Grand Prix, would be cancelled in both 2020 and 2021.[279] Organisers of the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown had announced on 5 November 2020 that there will be no fireworks display and countdown at Marina Bay, instead, light shows will be held instead together with heartland fireworks and that the event would be streamed online and on television by Mediacorp.[280]
On 7 December 2020, organisers of the annual World Economic Forum event announced that they have decided to hold its 2021 annual meeting in Singapore, from 25 to 28 May, instead of its traditional home of Switzerland, which is battling a rising number of coronavirus infections.[281][282] On 3 February 2021, the organisers postponed the annual meeting to 17–20 August due to pandemic-related challenges.[283] It was eventually cancelled on 17 May, with the World Economic Forum's (WEF) citing global uncertainties caused by COVID-19 as the reason. It was added that the next annual meeting will take place in the first half of 2022, with the final location and date to be decided later.[284]
On 4 May 2021, the President's Office announced that the Istana Open House on 13 May would be cancelled.[285] While it was initially announced that it would reopen on 1 August,[286] it was later decided that the event would be postponed to 28 August, in the wake of the rise of community cases in July.[287]
On 30 June 2021, Ng Eng Hen announced that the annual National Day Parade at The Float @ Marina Bay would proceed as planned.[288] Following the return to Phase 2 (Heightened Alert), MINDEF stated that it would be postponed to 21 August, with a ceremonial parade held on 9 August.[289] On 12 July 2022, it was announced that live performances and open houses would return to the Istana.[290]
Wedding ceremonies were also adversely affected by COVID-19. In Risk Level 0 (Heightened Risk), all wedding receptions are not allowed. In Risk Level 1, it was allowed with up to 50 persons without pre-event testing and 250 persons with pre-event testing. In Risk Level 2, it was allowed with up to 100 persons without pre-event testing and 250 persons with pre-event testing. Wedding ceremonies were revamped since the return to P2HA in 2021, to allow wedding receptions for all fully vaccinated persons, up to 100 guests, before raising back to 250 guests.[291]
Transportation[edit]
Taxi and private hire vehicles were hit by the impact of COVID-19. A S$77 million package was provided to help them tide through this period, co-funded by the Government, taxi and private-hire companies. In addition, a S$2.7 million fund was set up by the Government and National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) for drivers who are not eligible.[292] In view of the worsening coronavirus impact, the package will be enhanced from May 2020, extending until September 2020. This will cost an additional $95 million.[293] On 6 April, directors of the ComfortDelGro Group announced its board of directors would take a voluntary 20 per cent cut in directors' fees until the end of 2020.[294]
Various banks have suggested that Singapore Airlines will have a loss in FY21, with OCBC credit analysts arguing that the airline will have to tap the markets for more funds and possibly even need state support.[295]
Singapore Airlines Group, consisting of Singapore Airlines (SIA), SilkAir and Scoot, also announced plans to slash their capacity. Singapore Airlines slashed nearly all of the capacity until August. The news resulted in STI crashing down by 164.63 (6.83%). Scoot did likewise, grounding 47 out of the 49 planes they had in their fleet at the time.[296] It was reported on 27 March 2020, SIA received a rescue package of S$19 billion (US$13 billion).[297] Its major shareholder Temasek Holdings helped underwrite the package, containing S$5.3 billion of equity and S$9.7 billion of convertible notes.[297] Singapore's largest bank, DBS Bank, also extended a loan of S$4 billion to help it get over the crisis and position itself for expansion.[297] With the significant reduction in flights, Singapore Airlines agreed to provide some 300 staff to help with possible manpower shortages at hospitals in Singapore and provided some staff to deal with transport ambassadors.[298] It was announced that the airline would consolidate all their Changi Airport operations from 1 May 2020 to Terminal 3.[299] On 14 May 2020, Singapore Airlines announced a full year loss for Financial Year 2019–2020 of S$212 million, which the group's first loss in its 48 years of operation.[300][301] On 1 September 2020, Singapore Airlines announced plans to reinstate several destinations that have opened up travel such as Bandar Seri Begawan, Auckland, Christchurch, Taipei, Hong Kong, Macau, Hanoi, Brisbane, Perth and Sydney. For airlines, regulations for social distancing are not applicable to save costs. Mask wearing continues to be mandatory and airlines will upgrade their apps to include contact tracing. Overnight flights will also be re-introduced which allows even quieter rides.[302] On 25 June Jetstar Asia Airways announced that it was cutting up to 180 people, almost a quarter of the workforce in Singapore. At the same time they would allow the retirement of five of their A320 fleet, bringing the total down to 13.[303]
The Land Transport Authority announced that bidding of all certificates of entitlement (COEs) during the COVID-19 lockdown periods would be suspended.[304]
Transport services were gradually reduced in stages. Last train timings were brought forward earlier, and transport frequencies were retained to allow safe distancing. Measures also involved the imposition of queuing at MRT station exit doors.
Cross-border bus services were impacted by Malaysia's Movement Control Order all the way until 30 April 2022, with services 160 and 170 that cross the Causeway to be amended to serve only local sectors of its route, while other services that were specific for the border crossing such as 170X and 950 were suspended entirely.[305]
Bus services also experienced disruptions when clusters of COVID-19 infection occurred among public bus drivers, forcing both patients and colleagues who were close contacts to self-isolate. In August and September 2021, "slightly under 10%" out of a total of 9,500 bus drivers were affected, resulting in some express services being withdrawn, while waiting times increased for other routes that had to run at a reduced frequency. Bus operators sought to minimize the impact by prioritising high-demand routes, reassigning available drivers as needed.[127][306] In February 2022, another shortage of drivers occurred due to a wave of infections, and SBS Transit was forced to reduce the operating frequency of some routes, with double-decker buses deployed to replace single-deckers in some instances to compensate for capacity.[307]
The quarantine and testing of all foreign workers in dormitories had also caused delays in the construction of various MRT projects, which was cited as a reason for the delay of the Thomson–East Coast line Stage 2 which was further delayed to 28 August 2021. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) later reported that they had yet to fully assess the length of delay on the other stages of the line as well as other ongoing projects.[308]
Scams[edit]
There had also been a number of reports of individuals that capitalised on the pandemic to engage in online scams. In one instance, scammers pretended to be Ministry of Health (MOH) officials engaging in contact tracing,[309] which prompted the MOH and Singapore Police Force (SPF) to clarify that no financial details or transfer of money will be requested during contact tracing.[310] Several people were also arrested for face masks sold over the online e-commerce platform Carousell that were never fulfilled.[311] On 4 April 2020, SPF also arrested a man for suspected money-laundering offences amounting to S$10.3 million over the purchase of surgical masks and hand sanitisers that were never fulfilled.[312]
The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and SPF were investigating possible abuses of the COVID-19 Temporary Relief Fund (TRF), which is supposed to provide financial assistance to those eligible.[313] A total of 394 COVID-19-related scams occurred between January and April 2020, with losses totalling S$1.4 million.[314]
In 2021, SPF started distributing a warning about a new type of scam involving oxygen machines. The scammers reportedly exploited compromised WhatsApp accounts to solicit donations for the purchase of oxygen concentrator machines to be sent to India.[315]
International relations[edit]
Stranded Malaysia-based workers[edit]
On 16 March 2020, the Malaysian government announced the start of the Movement Control Order (MCO) that took effect on 18 March 2020, preventing Malaysians that were staying in Singapore at the time, many of which were also working in Singapore, from leaving the country.[316] With approximately 300,000 Malaysians, or almost a tenth of Singapore's labour force working in Singapore, the MCO would have been expected to significantly affect Singapore's economy, including sectors providing essential services.[317]
The announcement of the MCO resulted in long queues at immigration checkpoints as Malaysian workers in Singapore scrambled to collect their belongings and return to Singapore, while Singaporeans returned home.[318] Various firms across Singapore rushed to find temporary accommodation for their workers before the MCO took effect.[319] The Singapore government advised workers to try to stay with relatives, friends, and colleagues, and seek housing in hotels, dormitories and rental flats if this was not possible.[320] The government also provided $50 for each worker per day, up to 14 days to support employers finding accommodation.[321] As of 17 March, the government announced that 10,000 Malaysian workers had been matched with temporary housing.[321] Some workers could not immediately find accommodations and resorted to sleeping in public areas.[322] In response, Ministry of Social and Family Development repurposed Jurong East Sports Hall into a temporary relief area for remaining Malaysian workers who were unable to find temporary accommodations immediately after the MCO took effect, while the Ministry of Manpower stepped up patrols to look out for such stranded workers.[323] A number of residents also stepped up to offer their spare rooms to accommodate Malaysian workers at little to no cost.[324]
The MCO resulted in the suspension of all bus services between Johor Bahru and Singapore.[305] While the KTMB Shuttle Tebrau train service continued to operate between the two checkpoints, only citizens returning to their respective countries are allowed to board.[325] The lockdown also sparked fears of food shortages, triggering a second wave of panic buying and hoarding of essential items. On 26 April, Malaysia announced that Malaysians wanting to return to Malaysia will need to obtain permits from the Malaysian High Commission in Singapore. However, only 400 of such permits were issued daily.[326]
Border controls and operations[edit]
Singapore began to restrict travellers from entering from 29 January in a progressive manner as a response to localised outbreaks. Travellers were banned gradually in phases between January and 23 March; only people who are in essential services were allowed entry, the last phase required all travellers to undergo a "stay-home notice" (SHN) at hotels.[327][328][329][330][331][316][332][333][334][335][336][337][338] Port calls for all cruise vessels were stopped from 13 March as well.[339][340]
Due to the reduced number of flights, Singapore Changi Airport suspended operations at Terminals 2 and 4 in April and May 2020 respectively. Terminal 4 became a Dino-themed funland and vaccination centre.[341][177] Malaysia would also shorten the operating hours of Sultan Iskandar Building at the Johor Causeway to 12 hours daily from 24 April, effectively limiting the Causeway's operating hours.[342] The Second Link crossing would remain open round the clock.[342]
On 28 June 2020, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and then Malaysia Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin agreed that their governments would work together to establish a Periodic Commuting Arrangement (PCA) allowing residents from both nations who hold long-term immigration passes for business and work purposes in the other country to periodically return to their home countries for short-term home leave.[343] The Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) and the Periodic Commuting Arrangement (PCA) were launched in August 2020. The RGL scheme will allow essential business and official travel between the two countries while the PCA scheme will allow Singaporean and Malaysian residents who hold long-term immigration business and work passes to enter for work purposes.[344][345] Travel bubble arrangements with Malaysia, Germany and South Korea were suspended due to emergence of COVID-19 variant of concern,[346] whereas in future, Singapore and Malaysia had plans to recognise each other's COVID-19 vaccine certificates with the goal of restoring cross-border travel.[347]
Cruises were restarted in November but did not have any other port of call other than Singapore. In early December, an 83-year-old man tested positive on board and the ship had to return to Singapore a day early. Subsequent retests of the sample and additional samples proved the original test to be a false positive.[348]
Repatriation efforts[edit]
As the pandemic spread throughout the world, the Singapore government had organised several repatriation efforts to bring Singaporeans back from various overseas locations.[349][350] MFA and other governmental agencies subsequently brought back at least 1,000[b] Singaporeans, permanent residents, and family members stranded at other locations where there were similar lockdowns and suspension of flights: Cambodia,[351] Egypt,[352] Fiji,[353] India,[354] Iran,[355] Nepal,[356] Saudi Arabia,[357] Slovenia,[358] and the UK.[359][360] Most of the evacuees were brought back on direct flights,[351][352][354][357][359] whilst some in Fiji, Iran, Nepal, and Slovenia saw some assistance from other countries.[353][355][356][358] All evacuees had to serve a 14-day Stay Home Notice or be quarantined[361] at designated locations, such as hotels with cost borne by the government,[362][363][364] government quarantine faculties, or at home.
With flights to Wuhan suspended due to the Hubei lockdown, Scoot had offered two one-way flights back to Wuhan for tourists stuck in Singapore.[365] As the travel restrictions began to grow and accumulated into an ongoing ban on short-term visitors arriving or transiting through Singapore which started from 23 March,[338] Singapore had allowed visitors to transit through Singapore if they are being repatriated by various governments.[366] India had repatriated some of its citizens from Singapore in May 2020 on two separate flights.[367][368] In the same flight which Singapore Airlines brought back Singaporeans from Cambodia on 12 April, it also carried Australians heading back to Australia with Singapore being a transit point.[351] It was reported that Singapore and Bangladesh were in discussions to repatriate their respective citizens if necessary.[369]
Assistance to other countries[edit]
Both the Singapore government and private sector sent support packages to Indonesia, including test kits and personal protective equipment.[370][371] The Singapore government sent swabs and other supplies to Malaysia to help with sample collection and testing.[372] Temasek Foundation donated 30,000 test kits to India and this was affirmed and thanked by High Commissioner of India to Singapore, Jawed Ashraf.[373] Indian low-cost airline SpiceJet operated flights carrying the test kits and other medical equipment from Singapore to both Bangalore and Chennai.[374][375]
In December 2020, Singapore pledged US$5 million towards COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX), a WHO-led global initiative aimed at securing COVID-19 vaccines for low- and middle-income countries.[376] Together with Switzerland, Singapore co-chairs "Friends of the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) Facility", which comprises the European Union and the following 14 nations: Australia, Canada, Iceland, Israel, Japan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Norway, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.[377]
On 26 April 2021, the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) and Little India Shopkeepers Association (LISHA) initiated and launched a relief fund to raise money and support India in its fight against COVID-19.[378]
On 31 August 2021, Singapore agreed to support Australia by sending 500,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech to aid Australia's coronavirus battle exacerbated by Delta variant. Based on the agreement, Australia will return the doses by December 2021.[379]
On 28 September 2021, Singapore sent more than 120,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Batam and Riau islands of Indonesia. Similarly, Singapore sent 100,000 doses of Moderna to Brunei on 29 September to help them tackle the pandemic.[380][381]
Economic measures[edit]
With the impact of COVID-19 becoming greater, it was becoming clear to analysts that Singapore would need to respond with large scale government spending.[382] In the Budget 2020, the Government provided help in four consecutive budget periods, under Unity Budget,[383] Resilience Budget,[384] Solidarity Budget[385] and Fortitude Budget.[386] All Singaporeans had $600 deposited into the bank account in 2020. In the Budget 2021, the $800 million support package was rolled out, where JSS was further increased to 50 per cent in hardest hit sectors.[387] The government announced on 4 June 2020 that they would be keeping Central Provident Fund contribution rates unchanged as they believed the Jobs Support Scheme would help reduce the burden on employers.[388]
It was announced that the government would draw an additional S$32 billion from past reserves, bringing the total used to S$52 billion. In addition, another S$13 billion will be set aside for contingencies due to the pandemic.[389] Extending and enhancing the JSS, to include higher tiers of wage subsidies and lasting until August, would cost around S$2.9 billion, bringing the total cost to S$23.5 billion.[390] The government introduced a one-off Solidarity Utilities Credit of S$100 for all households since many people were remote working.[391] Food and beverage (F&B) and retail companies would receive up to S$10,000 as part of efforts to digitally transform their businesses, as they are likely to be seriously affected by safe distancing rules.[392] S$2 billion was committed to SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package was announced to create more jobs and traineeships.[393]
To help financial institutions and FinTech companies tide over the COVID-19 pandemic, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) released a $125 million package to help financial institutions and FinTech companies to strengthen long-term capabilities.[394]
On 14 April, the Infocomm Media Development Authority announced that they will launch Public Service Content worth S$8 million and fund 90% of the course fees for Self-Employed Persons under Talent Assistance (T-Assist) Programme. To reduce operating costs, the Film Exhibition and Distribution Licence Fees will be waived from 17 April.[395]
Every Singaporean who would be aged 18 and above in 2020 would receive S$100 worth of SingapoRediscovers vouchers, which can be used for a variety activities to support the local tourism industry. They were planned to be usable between December 2020 and June 2021 and would be paid via SingPass.[396] Additionally, Trip.com has a "Pay It Forward" campaign throughout this usable period, where people can use their vouchers to pay for tourism products for various beneficiary groups.[397] When the vouchers were launched, there were some complaints from Singaporeans about the complex way the vouchers were to be redeemed.[398] On 30 April 2021, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) announced that the expiry date of the SingapoRediscovers vouchers will be extended to 31 December 2021, and that improvements to the redemption process will be rolled out.[399]
Controversies[edit]
Discrimination against healthcare workers[edit]
In February 2020, incidents were reported of healthcare workers such as nurses and ambulance drivers being ostracised, as members of the public who feared that their contact with coronavirus patients would pose an infection risk. Such acts were condemned by the authorities, who exhorted the public to show support and appreciation for their work.[400] Ride-hailing service Grab announced the launch of GrabCare, a dedicated service for healthcare workers to obtain transport to and from their work places, in order to alleviate their difficulty of finding rides.[401]
On 12 April 2020, CNA reported that some staff members of Lee Ah Mooi nursing home were evicted by landlords after a cluster of cases was reported at the home.[402]
Living conditions at foreign worker dormitories[edit]
Despite effective handling of initial waves of infection, several serious outbreaks in April have brought the situation in Singapore out of control; many analysts points to poor conditions at foreign workers dormitories as a major factor of the failure.[403][404]
The pandemic brought the living conditions at foreign worker dormitories to media attention. Dormitories were reported to be unsanitary and crowded, making preventive measures like social distancing difficult.[405] Retired diplomat Tommy Koh criticised the living conditions, calling it "third world" and "a time bomb waiting to explode".[406] Amnesty International called the situation a "recipe for disaster".[407] Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo vowed to improve the living conditions of foreign workers after the quarantine was handled.[408]
While churches in the 1960s and 1970s historically championed social justice and advocacy for worker rights within the Singaporean civil society, this has declined over the years due to the rise of a middle class and a dependency on state-centric growth.[409] During the pandemic, Singaporean churches sought ways to bring about "neighbourly love" and national prayer. But some criticised this as not being enough to address the inequalities experienced by foreign workers who were disproportionately affected by the virus.[410]
On 9 April, MOM said in a press release that it will improve quality of meals of foreign workers during quarantine and formed a task force to improve the living conditions of foreign workers.[411] As of 25 April 25 dormitories have been gazetted as isolation areas.[412] Some healthy workers are also progressively being moved to numerous empty premises such as SAF camps, HDB blocks, floating hotels and Changi Exhibition Centre.[413][414] On 16 April, Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo said that there will be a "three-pronged strategy"; containing the spread, imposing lockdowns and separating workers in essential services.[415]
Minister of National Development Lawrence Wong has said that the living standards in dormitories have steadily improved over the years, and suggested that the issue was the dormitories being designed for communal living, where migrant workers ate, lived, and cooked together, and that the initial precautions and safeguards put in place to reduce some of the non-essential activities were not sufficient.[416] The government has promised to build new dormitories that are designed with public health in mind and provide more amenities, while some workers will be temporarily moved to makeshift dormitories before the new dormitories are ready.[417]
It is noted that a large majority of COVID-19 cases in Singapore are foreign workers. On 20 April, Singapore reported a peak of 1,426 new cases, of which only 16 were not migrant workers but citizens or permanent residents. Foreign workers had accounted for three-fourths of the total infections in Singapore by then.[403]
Towards the end of July 2020, a spate of attempted and successful suicides among the foreign workers in dormitories raised concerns about the mental well-being of the workers on lockdown.[418][419] Authorities are monitoring the situation and are working with partners and NGOs to enhance their mental health support programmes.[420][421]
Social distancing on public transport[edit]
Outside the lockdowns, social distancing was not required when on board public transportation, and it was not practical due to the high volume of commuters.[422][423] The Minister of National Development Lawrence Wong explained that resulting reduction of passenger capacity will involve major society disruptions, such as lateness for work, more unnecessary increase of transportation, more manpower strength and enforcement. Authorities instead urged employers to allow more remote work and flexible work arrangements to reduce the demand for public transport.[423][424] With that, social distancing measures are only implemented in the lockdown periods, with stickers pasted on alternate seats to indicate that they should not be used, and auxiliary officers and transport ambassadors enforcing the rules throughout this period.[425] Public transportation has resumed pre-lockdown operations after the period of lockdown, social distancing stickers were removed on bus and train seats, allowing all seats to be used.[426] Regulations for social distancing were no longer applicable except in fixed queuing area such as in MRT stations and bus interchanges. Mask wearing continues to be mandatory in public transport and most places in Singapore. Since 29 March 2022, mask wearing is optional but still encouraged in some outdoor places in Singapore.[427]
