Singapore—Although the country’s Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Masagos Zulkifli, noted in a Facebook post that there were zero community cases of Covid-19 on Monday (June 1), according to the Ministry of Health, he also pointed out that there has been a 5% increase in the number of people who were caught meeting with others from different households in the past week, in comparison with the week before.
This means that there have been more people who have relaxed their guard in the week before circuit breaker restrictions were scheduled to be lifted.
For whatever reason, these individuals grew lax in obeying the restrictions over the past week, and the Enforcement Officers encountered people meeting up in different situations. These violators were “meeting up with buyers, chatting in groups in public spaces, exercising together in parks.”
One group from different households were even caught drinking together for a birthday celebration.
“Such reckless behaviour compromises efforts to keep Singapore safe, and will not be tolerated. We must prevent a second wave of community spread,” Mr Masagos wrote.
https://www.facebook.com/masagos/posts/1516686388492373
He then went on to warn against complacency, pointing out that social gatherings are still not allowed under Phase 1 of the easing of the circuit breaker restrictions “invisible COVID-19 carriers amongst us.”
The minister further noted that even visits to elderly relatives may be carried out with only two visitors belonging to the same household each day.
He urged Singaporeans to only leave the house when it is necessary and to continue to wear masks if they do so. These vigilant efforts are designed for the safety of all.
Overall, however, the number of violations of the restrictive measures that the Government put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus at the beginning of April has gone down in the past weeks.
The Minister wrote that at the beginning of the circuit breaker early last month, in one particular day there had been 100 people fined because they were not wearing masks. At the end of May, only three people were fined.
Mr Masagos noted, “Fines issued against breaches of safe distancing measures have also come down, by about two-thirds — from more than 250 fines a day in the initial period to about 85 fines on 31 May.”
He wrote that the country has successfully averted a healthcare crisis thus far, and may “now concentrate on reviving the economy and avert a job crisis.”
Mr Masagos appealed for everyone to stay patient, and “adapt accordingly to the new normal,” because “If we all do our part, we can get through this together, and emerge stronger as a people.” —/TISG
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