Lest you didn’t know, the authorities have strict measures on people who’re coming back from China.
Firstly, they’re not going to let everyone in at one go: out of the 30,000 people who might be coming back to Singapore since early February 2020, they’d have to seek approval from the authorities before they can come back, if not they’ll face serious consequences.
Two people tried coming back without approval and was sent back to their countries, and they have been permanently banned from working in Singapore
The authorities have been rejecting almost 400 work pass holders from re-entering Singapore so as to stagger workers’ return to Singapore.
Now, even if you’re one of the lucky (or unlucky) ones that has approval, you can’t start work immediately; you’d need to serve a 14-day Leave of Absence. During these 14 days, your employer will get an allowance of $100 a day—they can use it to engage temporary workers to cover your duties or spend it on beer I don’t know and don’t care.
And MOM’s taking it very seriously: it’s been reported that six employers have breached the laws, allowing their employees to work even when they’re supposed to be on LOA. Four workers are work pass holders and have been sent back to their countries while the other two are Singapore residents.
The companies now cannot engage foreigners for two years.
Today, the authorities introduced yet another measure called “Stay-Home Notice”.
Stay-Home Notice
In case you’re not aware, someone who’s on LOA isn’t supposed to go to work or school, but he or she can leave the house briefly to buy food or household supplies.
Only people who are on quarantine order are required to stay in their home quarantine or designated quarantine premises as they’ve higher chance of contracting COVID-19. These people are usually close contacts with confirmed cases, and as of today, there are 1,200 people under quarantine, with half of them serving their quarantine at home.
From tomorrow (18 February 2020) onwards, people who’re coming back to Singapore from China, or have recent travel history to China, won’t be given a 14-day LOA, but a new thingy called Stay-Home Notice, also known as SHN.
The only difference between LOA and SHN is that a person under SHN can’t even leave the house to buy food.
Reader Bao: So the goal’s to starve them to death?
No lah. It’s 2020; no one will die from starving in Singapore. For people who need help, they can look for People’s Association. For students, they can seek help from their schools and for working adults, they can seek help from their employers or MOM.
For all you know, McDonald’s might give them priorities for the delivery of the popular McGriddles to them #justkidding #dontpofmame
As for people who’ve come back before tomorrow, 11:59pm, they’ll still be under the LOA scheme.
MOH says this is “another precautionary measure we are taking to minimise the risk of additional imported cases of COVID-19.”
Now, what if those who’re under LOA or SHN flout the rules?
Foreigners would have their passes revoked, while Singaporeans and Singapore PRs may face prosecution under the Infectious Diseases Act.
And seeing how the authorities took such drastic and swift actions on those people who’ve breached the rules before, you know you shouldn’t test the system.