Public fret over possible infection as half of workers set to return to workplace, Jan 1

Singapore — Starting Jan 1, 2022, as many as half the employees now working from home will be allowed to return to the workplace, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

That is also the date when previously-announced vaccination measures for the workforce take effect, putting Singapore “in a better position to ease the current default work-from-home posture”.

Currently, no more than 50 people at a time are allowed to take part in work-related events. This cap will be raised only for events where all participants remain masked and seated at a safe distance from each other, said MOH.

“Social gatherings at the workplace will continue to be disallowed,” the agency said, noting more details would be provided separately.

The upcoming relaxation has prompted many in the online community to fret publicly about the possible increase in transmission of Covid-19 when workers go back to “squeezing in public transport”.

And others wonder if employees who are able to get their work done remotely can choose to continue working from home.

Working from home has been the default since September when a spike in Covid-19  community infections prompted the government to rule that those who can must work from home.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong, who co-chairs the Multi-ministry Task Force for Covid-19 conceded that such an arrangement is “not ideal and not sustainable in the long run”.

“Face-to-face interaction is important for team dynamics, as well as other operational considerations,” he noted.

Regarding unvaccinated workers returning to work, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said the task force was “considering” removing the concession for unvaccinated individuals to provide a negative Covid-19 test result before returning to the workplace.

“It does have implications for employers and workers. And that’s why we are consulting and discussing with our tripartite partners on this particular move. We will provide more details when the arrangements are finalized,” said Mr Wong.

In its announcement, MOH also said it was expanding vaccination-differentiated safe management (VDS) measures to more settings.

Beginning Feb 1, 2022, VDS measures will cover all indoor sports facilities, institutes of higher learning and leisure guests in hotels, hostels and serviced apartments.

All events, regardless of size, must also implement VDS to proceed, said MOH, noting that even “smaller-sized events can spark transmission that can then spread to wider groups of people, especially in view of the Omicron variant. /TISG

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