Coronavirus: Singapore not considering lockdown, but temporary closure of schools, offices

Singapore is not planning on imposing a lockdown but could consider 'major circuit breakers', like temporary closure of schools and offices, to check the spread of coronavirus, which has infected over 240 people in the country.

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong on Tuesday said, "If we are vigilant, we implement our measures effectively, we do not have to lockdown our city and we don't want to lockdown our city."

Wong urged Singaporeans to comply with the health ministry's advisory to defer non-essential travel, after the emergence of more imported COVID-19 cases involving citizens who returned from overseas recently.

He said instead of a lockdown the government was considering 'major circuit breakers', like temporary closure of schools and offices.

The minister said the majority of imported cases in recent days did not involve foreign visitors such as tourists, but Singaporeans, permanent residents and long-term passport holders who had been travelling and were infected by the virus when overseas.

Anyone who decides to travel despite the health ministry advisory will have to use their personal leave to serve their stay-home or leave of absence notice which has been mandated by the government in its fight to contain the virus.

"If there is no need to travel, please don't travel during this period. It puts everyone at risk. You put yourself at risk and you put your family members and the people around you at risk," Channel News Asia quoted the minister as saying.

He also assured that Singapore was not "shutting" its borders.

Those who still wish to travel will "have to take responsibility for their actions", Wong said.

Singapore reported 17 new infections on Monday, its largest single-day increase to date, 11 of them were imported cases involving Singapore residents who had travelled to destinations like France, Spain, eastern Europe, the Netherlands and the United States.

The ministry had issued a travel advisory on Sunday asking Singaporeans to defer non-essential travel.

The advisory will be enforced for 30 days after which the situation would be reviewed.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday said his Malaysian counterpart has assured him the flow of goods and cargo, including food supplies, between the two countries.

Malaysia has announced that it would bar citizens from going overseas and foreigners from entering the country for about two weeks starting Wednesday.

The restrictions are part of a movement control order established by the Malaysian government to prevent further spread of the COVID-19, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in Kuala Lumpur on Monday night.

"I was happy to hear his (Malaysian PM) reassurance that the flow of goods and cargo between Singapore and Malaysia, including food supplies, would continue," said the Singapore premier.

Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Singapore and Malaysia have agreed to work out the operational details together so that goods, cargo and food supplies "continue to flow" between both countries.

Malaysia is Singapore's main source of some food essentials. The two nations are linked with an 1-km causeway and an 1.9 km bridge that sees a daily traffic of around 300,000 people.

Singapore was part of the Malaysian Federation prior to independence and has strong people-to-people relations which includes daily shopping and weekend outings in the neighbouring Johor Bahru city on the southern tip of the Malaysian Peninsular.