Household members of close contacts of a case must self-isolate

Entire households will now be required to self-isolate at home should one member be identified as a close contact of a Covid-19 case.

This precautionary measure is being put in place as Singapore's experience has shown that an infected person is quite likely to pass the virus on to others in the same household, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

If the first-degree contact tests negative - either when they enter quarantine or are no longer under quarantine - the household can be released from isolation.

But if this contact tests positive, Singapore "will have saved precious time by isolating his household members earlier".

"This more aggressive approach will help us to shut down clu-sters more quickly," PM Lee said in a speech broadcast live to the nation.

Quarantine orders may be served on household members of close contacts. These will be rescinded if the contact tests negative, Singapore's director of medical services Kenneth Mak said at a separate press conference yesterday.

"At this point in time, the thinking is that they can isolate at home," he added. "But it would also depend on the household situation to determine whether it is feasible and possible."

Associate Professor Mak urged Singaporeans to cooperate, stressing that the measures are intended to ensure that any Covid-10 transmission is quickly controlled.

"It is not intended as a means of trying to stifle the freedom of household members to move around," he added.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that nearly 70 per cent of linked new cases every day are due to household transmissions, rather than virus spread within the wider community.

"So, I think this is a worthwhile measure to take," he said.

This addition to Singapore's contact-tracing strategy is meant to help the country track down cases faster and cast its net more widely, equipping it to better deal with more infectious variants of the virus, such as the B1617 strain first detected in India.

The country's contact-tracing capabilities have improved vastly since Covid-19 first hit, said PM Lee.

He added that contact tracers are now working "faster and better" because they have more experience and skills, as well as better tools - including TraceTogether and SafeEntry.

TraceTogether enables contacts to be identified and quarantined within hours rather than days, while the SafeEntry check-in system has helped the authorities identify thousands of people who had visited the same places as infected cases, and inform them to come forward for a free Covid-19 test.

These tests have been offered to those who visited areas that have been linked to Covid-19 clusters - Jem and Westgate malls in Jurong, White Sands mall in Pasir Ris and an NTUC Foodfare outlet in Anchorvale.

PM Lee said: "Because of Singaporeans' self-discipline, public spirit and support of TraceTogether and SafeEntry, we are contact tracing faster and more comprehensively."