Task Force Created To Encourage S’poreans To Keep Public Places & Themselves Clean

2020-03-06 , 1:48 pm

Amidst the spread of the COVID-19, one mantra has consistently been for the public to practice good personal hygiene.

And no we’re not just talking about washing your hands before you eat or refraining from touching your face.

Other measures you can take include remembering to clean your phones regularly or open the windows in your house to let fresh air in.

It looks like Singapore is taking it a step further and leaving nothing up to chance by creating a task force:

S’pore Create SG Clean Task Force To Encourage S’poreans To Keep Public Places & Themselves Clean

The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) announced in a press conference on 6 March 2020 that a new task force has been created to “keep Singapore clean” and to “look after our personal hygiene”.

According to Mothership, the SG Clean taskforce is chaired by the environment minister Masagos Zulkifli and will be set up under the purview of the Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) on COVID-19.

It will:

Ensure the cleanliness of public spaces
Encourage good personal hygiene
Adjust social norms to reduce the spread of diseases

Ensure Cleanliness of Public Spaces

The SG Clean campaign was launched on 16 February 2020 and requests that all Singaporeans practice good personal and environmental hygiene habits.

It also requests that organisations adhere to sanitation and hygiene checklists by authorities.

Lest you’re unaware, there are “7 Habits of Good Public Hygiene”:

1. Keep the premises clean and pest-free;
2. Return tray and keep the table clean;
3. Keep the toilet clean and dry;
4. Wash hands regularly with soap;
5. Take temperature and see a doctor if unwell;
6. Use a tissue when sneezing or coughing; and
7. Bin litter and soiled tissue.

Look Out For The “SG Clean” Quality Mark

Afraid of catching the virus when you’re out? There’s a SG Clean quality mark which will help you tell if a place’s cleanliness is of a high standard.

Places with the quality mark have to commit and adhere to sector-specific sanitation and hygiene checklists.

It will cover areas such as management oversight, cleaning methodology, toilet cleanliness and general public hygiene.

The campaign will progressively roll out the “SG Clean” quality mark to various sectors covering areas with high human traffic.

It will be first launched progressively at hawker centres, train stations, bus interchanges, schools, hotels, tourist attractions and shopping malls.

As of now, 1,907 hawker and market stalls, 345 coffee shop stalls have been awarded the SG Clean quality mark.

Other sectors such as retail, hospitality, transport nodes, educational institutions and preschools will also be part of the SG Clean quality mark campaign.

Amendments To The Environment Public Health Act

MEWR will make amendments to the Environmental Public Health Act in the later part of 2020.

Mandatory cleaning standards will also be introduced, including a regime for pro-active routine cleaning and disinfection at prescribed frequencies.

These include a standard for public cleanliness such as

frequency of cleaning and disinfection of high contact areas, in particular toilets
pest management, including a mosquito control regime and
back-of-house waste management such as bin centres

NEA will work to progressively implement the new requirements from 2021 at preschools, schools, eldercare facilities and hawker centres starting with higher-risk premises with high footfall and immuno-vulnerability.

Enforcement & Penalties

NEA has also stepped up inspection of public toilets and finding hygiene gaps like missing soap lotions. These efforts have been put into place beginning end January 2020.

Since early February 2020, cleaning of public places of high human traffic has been stepped up, such as tabletops and toilets in hawker centres being cleaned every two hours.

There has also been increased enforcement against public hygiene offences like spitting and littering.

NEA says that together, sustaining a high level of personal and public hygiene together will help reduce the risk to public health from the COVID-19 situation and beyond.

On The Same Note…

If you’re wondering what you can do at home to prevent the COVID-19 from reaching you, here’s a very simple tip.

Experts have advised us against using aircon. ~~Yes, that’s right, they want us to roast in an oven.~~

Instead, we should open the windows in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19.

This was according to studies conducted which revealed that viruses thrive better in cool and dry climates.

This means that fresh air from open windows and Singapore’s hot weather will make it less conducive for the virus to thrive.

A simple tip to safeguard your home right?