Singapore Multi-Ministry Taskforce Announces Precautionary Measures Against Novel Coronavirus as Cases Increase

Notice: The full MOM advisory can be found on their website. Full advisories for specific sectors can be found on the MOH website.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) advises travellers to defer all non-essential travel to Mainland China, as well as to exercise caution and attention to their personal hygiene when traveling overseas.

The Singapore Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) on the Wuhan Coronavirus was addressing members of the press at the National Press Centre of the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) this morning, 27 January 2020.

The MTF, chaired by Health Minister Gan Kim Yong and Lawrence Wong, was formed on 22 January 2020. The taskforce will direct the national whole-of-government response to the outbreak, coordinate community response to protect Singaporeans against the spread of the disease, and work with international communities to respond to the outbreak.

Gan Kim Yong said: “The Wuhan Coronavirus situation is escalating globally. Given the high volume of international travel to and from Singapore, we do expect to see more suspected and confirmed cases in time to come.”

At the time of this article, he also mentioned that there is no evidence of community spread in Singapore, but appropriate measures will be taken as the global situation evolves.

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General Precautions

With anticipated increase in travel volume of the Lunar New Year festive period, MOH advises employers and employees to adopt the following precautions:

1. Employers should check the MOH website for the latest update on the Wuhan virus situation so that a considered decision can be made on whether to proceed with travel plans
   1. If business travel to known affected areas is unavoidable, employers should arrange for their employees to consult a doctor for health advice prior to travel.
   2. For employees whose work is performed in known affected areas, employers should ensure that employees are adequately protected or monitored in accordance to MOH guidelines.
2. Employers should advise employees to similarly check the list of affected areas on the MOH website before making any non-work-related travel plans.
3. Employers should obtain a health and travel declaration from their employees, on whether they have travelled to China recently, or if they have any upcoming travel plans to China.
4. Employers should check and monitor closely the health condition of employees who had been in China in the 14 days before returning to Singapore. Temperature checks should be made twice a day for 14 days upon returning to Singapore. They should advise their employees to seek medical attention promptly if they feel unwell.

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Flexible work, leave and salary arrangements

During the 14-day monitoring period, employers are encouraged to adopt flexible work arrangements, such as telecommuting and teleconferencing to allow the employees to work from home.

If remote working is not possible, employers can consider:

1. Paid leave of absence over and above their annual leave. This should be adopted if the travel was work-related.
2. Allowing employees to apply for annual leave.
3. Treating employees’ leave of absence as sick leave.
4. Allowing employees to apply for no pay leave, for employees who have used up their leave entitlements.
5. Other mutually agreed arrangements.

Employers should similarly consider remote working if their employees need to stay at home due to other reasons relating to the Wuhan virus, such as to take care of family members who have travelled to known affected areas.

Employees who are served a Quarantine Order will be deemed to be on paid sick leave. The period of absence from work would be treated as paid hospitalisation leave, as part of the employees’ hospitalisation leave eligibility under their employment contracts, collective agreements or as per the Employment Act.

NTUC’s Role

On the labour front, NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng stated that NTUC is working together with the government and employers to implement the different measures, as well as with the unions to make sure that the workers are well taken care of.

He said: “In NTUC, workers’ welfare is our top priority, especially in such circumstances. We have taken proactive measures with different companies in the private sector and with government agencies to ensure that the different measures have been implemented on the ground.”

He concluded: “As Labour Chief, I would like to urge all workers to take personal charge of your own health, and to make sure that you keep abreast of different government advisories.

“Take the necessary precautions so that individually you are well, and collectively companies can continue with the things that they do, so that life can continue as normally as possible for Singapore.”

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