Singapore's circuit breaker period will be extended until June 1, says the government just two weeks after it was first implemented on April 7.
Moving away from pink to a bright blue shirt for today's address, his fifth on the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, PM Lee assured the migrant workers, "We will look after your health, your welfare and your livelihood". "We will care for you, just like we care for Singaporeans", he added.
Migrant workers in Singapore are being aggressively tested, with enhanced medical resources focussed on their dormitories. Apart from workers in dormitories those living elsewhere in Singapore will also be monitored closely, with special measures to ensure the safety and well-being of workers in essential services the PM said.
Saying that the nation must press on with tight circuit breaker measures to prevent any leakage of cases from dorms to the wider community, he added that this was to give time for the current tighter measures to have effect in order to bring down the community numbers decisively.
Lauding the community for playing its part, coping well and adjusting well to working and studying from home, the PM cautioned against complacency until the number of daily cases came "to single-digit, or even zero".
Celebrating Ramadan responsibly, like we did the Tamil New Year "is our duty and responsibility to you, and your families", he added.
The circuit breaker has brought about a drop in the number of community cases and PM Lee called on Singaporeans to go out only for essential needs, such as buying food or groceries. "Otherwise, please stay home," he appealed.
Members of the public should go by themselves for essential shopping or exercising and not as a group or family he stressed.
Many will be disappointed by the extension of the circuit breaker PM Lee said, especially businesses and workers who are already hurting greatly. "But I hope you understand that this short-term pain is to stamp out the virus, protect the health and safety of our loved ones, and allow us to revive our economy", he said.
The Government will continue to provide all possible support he said, though things have to be taken one step at a time. "I ask for your support and cooperation. I ask for your trust and your confidence. Let us go all out to beat the virus, and break the chain of transmission. We will overcome this together", he concluded.
The "circuit breaker" was originally slated to end on May 4.
The circuit breaker, a set of significantly tighter measures to deal with COVID-19 were put into place early this month and started on April 7.
Under these strict measures all educational institutions have moved to full home-based learning, workers moved to work-from-home where possible as workplaces were shut down.
Singaporeans are advised to stay home as much as possible, wear masks and practice social distancing when going out for essential things until June 1 with the extension of the circuit breaker.
