In a Facebook post on Tuesday (28 January), Senior Minister of State for Health Lam Pin Min reassured the public that the supply of masks in the country is sufficient if they are used “sensibly and responsibly”.

He made this announcement after the Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed that two more imported cases of Wuhan coronavirus were reported in Singapore, bringing the total number of cases to seven.

“We would like to reassure Singaporeans that there is sufficient supply of masks in Singapore, if we use them sensibly and responsibly. There is no need to rush to buy masks,” Dr Lam wrote.

He added that that the Government is working closely with retailers like NTUC FairPrice and Unity Pharmacy to push out the stocks.

In the post, Dr Lam noted that he along with NTUC Fairprice’s CEO Seah Kian Peng were earlier at a warehouse to check on masks stockpile.

As to why some retailers have started rationing the sale of masks, Dr Lam explained that this was to ensure that there is adequate supply for all Singaporeans and to avoid unnecessary hoarding.

He went on to state that the Government is working hand in hand with retailers to manage the pricing of the masks and “reminded them not to profiteer from the increased demand”.

“As there is currently no local transmission of the 2019-nCoV infection, masks are generally not needed in our normal daily activities,” he said.

He added, “However, do put on a face mask if you have respiratory symptoms like a cough or runny nose to prevent the spread of the flu or the common cold.”

Dr Lam also urged everyone to remain calm and vigilant.

One day after Singapore confirmed its first case of Wuhan coronavirus in the country, several retail outlets ran out of both surgical and N95 masks that day. However, on Friday (24 January), the MOH reassured the public that there were enough N95 masks in the country for the public.

However, since then, social media has been rife with comments from people in Singapore talking about how many retail outlets are still out of masks. On top of that, outlets with masks have to contend with growing queues.

Last week, Channel NewsAsia reported that a check showed that Guardian and Watsons stores in Paya Lebar Quarter, Clementi Mall and Tiong Bahru Plaza were out of the masks.

Upon reading Dr Lam’s latest remarks about having sufficient supply of masks is in place for Singaporeans, many online users voiced their disagreement with the Senior Minister.

Writing on the Facebook page of Channel News Asia, many of them stated that most of the shops in the country have run out of stock for the masks. They explained that they’ve been to multiple stores in Singapore, some up to 10 pharmacies, but none of them had any luck in purchasing a mask.

James Bonding urged Dr Lam to “walk the ground and stop staying in your ivory towers” in order to know the real situation out there.

Some suggested that the Government should perhaps supply masks to all households in the country as they cannot purchase it at the stores. One user even asked the Government to supply the masks in the stockpile to Polyclinic pharmacies as these outlets will be “in a better position to control the quantities and prices”.

As a recommendation, Derrick Yeo opined that the Government should “control nos of mask each citizen can purchase”, deal with those who resell masks for a profit and tourists should only be allowed to buy one mask per person.

A bunch of online users also said that people are indeed profiteering due to the lack of supply of the masks, suggesting they should be “arrested and prosecuted”.

Some said that even NTUC and other outlets are hiking up the price in the current situation.

Subscribe
Notify of
1 Comment
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

马国媒体指百名马劳露宿街头 人力部强调雇主需提供住宿

上月22日,邻国马来西亚英语媒体《新海峡时报》(The New Straits Times)发表一篇文章《在新加坡的马来西亚籍街友》(Homeless Malaysians in Singapore)。 文章形容,一些马劳因疫情影响,新马边境关闭,有者被迫在公园长凳露宿、在公厕洗澡,甚至有时要饿肚子来节约开支。文章采访一名34岁名为沙鲁丁的男子,他告知记者,超过百名马劳无法负担房租而无家可归。作为家中唯一赚钱养家糊口的人,他们也不敢轻易放弃工作,再者返马隔离住宿开销逾2千令吉(约700新元)。 对于上述文章,人力部在昨日(3日)发表文告,指出该部在上月23及27日,联系了报导中的沙鲁丁以了解详情,但后者无法给出他们具体的姓名和联系方式,也承认未直接和员工交谈,以确认是否真的没有居所。 文告也指沙鲁丁澄清,并未告知《新海峡时报》“逾百名马劳露宿”,也不认识任何没有住所的马劳。 文告解释,狮城政府有跨机构的工作团队,由社会和家庭发展部、警察部队、人力部等组成。团队都会在全岛进行例行检查,若有街友都会转介到相关机构提供协助。 官员们在上月26日进行例行检查,到全国多处巡视至深夜,包括沙鲁丁列出的地点,但未找到有任何工作准证持有者露宿街头。…

滨海湾浮动舞台重新发展项目受疫情影响 发展工程将调整

本地建筑设计公司WOHA Architect将担任滨海湾浮动舞台重新发展项目的设计顾问。 国家发展部和国防部发表声明,海湾浮动舞台重新发展项目共吸引25方人马竞标,而最后决定将由本地建筑设计公司WOHA Architect带领的团队担任设计顾问,他们将善用其独有的海滨景观,设计出适合举行不同规模和类型活动的地点,融入游泳池、水上运动中心等社区体育设施以及餐饮和零售商店。 政府是在2017年宣布把浮动舞台重新发展为永久广场。该广场可用来举行社区活动、艺术表演、周末市集,以及春到河畔新春庆祝活动等。 文告表示,该项目原定2022年3月动工,预计2025年竣工,然而受到疫情的影响,项目规模和时间表可能会加以调整。

Basic Military Training suspended by SAF from 7 April until 4 May 2020 in tandem with COVID-19 circuit breaker

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has announced that it will be suspending…

No news of investigation into allegations against Ivan Lim 3 months after GE

Exactly three months have passed from today (10 Oct) since the 2020…