Singapore warns firms to enable home-working as COVID-19 cases rise to 926

Wednesday, 1 April 2020 01:58 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A seating area is taped up to encourage social distancing at a mall, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Singapore - REUTERS

Singapore (Reuters): Singapore said on Tuesday it could force companies to suspend operations if they do not do more to ensure employees can work from home to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections, as the city state reported 47 more cases of the respiratory illness.

“If we assess that a company has not made a serious enough effort to implement telecommuting, we may have to issue a stop work order,” Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo said. She said that if the nature of their business allowed work to be done from home, firms should do their utmost to make this happen.

The Southeast Asian city-state recorded its third death from the COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday. It has reported a total of 926 cases of the virus to date.