517 New Covid-19 Cases In S’pore Today (4 Jun 2020); 15 Community Cases Reported

It’s the third day of Phase One and the number of cases in the community has increased for the third time.

On 4 June, as of 12pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) reports 517 new Covid-19 cases.

Work permit holders at foreign workers’ dormitories make up a majority of the new cases reported today.

There are 15 community cases: 13 work pass holders and 2 Singaporeans/Singapore PRs.

According to the Straits Times, all 15 are asymptomatic cases and close contacts of previously-confirmed cases and were already on quarantine.

This brings the total number of Covid-19 cases in Singapore to 36,922.

MOH Had Said That Cases In The Community Will Increase

Previously, just before CB ended, MOH has told Singaporeans that the number of community cases in Singapore will increase.

This can’t be helped as people start going out to work again, increasing the risk of community transmission.

However, as long as the increase is kept low and stable, instead of explosively high like what happened a few months back, we probably do not need to go for CB-round two.

And it seems like what CB has ended, the government isn’t taking any chances just yet.

Authorities Coming Down Hard On Companies

Previously, when Phase One was first announced, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has said, again and again, that the default mode of working is still WFH.

In other words, if your employees were able to work from home for the past two months, they shouldn’t be back at the office.

Over the past two days, MOM said in a Facebook update, they have inspected more than 200 workplaces.

14 composition fines were given out and 3 workplaces were forced to close.

The 3 companies had broken Safety Management Measures (SMM) including getting all employees to come back to work at the office.

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It’s not just MOM raids that companies are worried about.

On 1 Jun 2020, several employees complained about being made to go back to the office.

For any complaints MOM receives about employees being made to go back to the office, they will investigate thoroughly.

That doesn’t mean employees can anyhowly report their companies, though.

The companies will be given a chance to explain the reason for their decision. If it’s not good enough, they will be punished.

Here’s MOM’s guideline on who needs to continue working from home:

“Those who have been working from home so far should continue to do so, and employees should go to the office only where it is demonstrably necessary, e.g. to access specialised systems/equipment that cannot be accessed from home, or to fulfil legal requirements (e.g. to complete contracts or transactions).”

And no, a lack of productivity from any employee isn’t a good enough reason to call them in.

You can view MOM’s full post here.