4 COVID-19 News Headlines Worth Reading

From receiving up to S$600 worth of Solidarity Budget to closing down of Changi Airport Terminal 2, here are some of the COVID-19 news headlines that will greatly affect your lifestyle and your budget.

1. “Solidarity Budget: All adult S’poreans to receive extra one-off cash payment of S$300, taking total to at least S$600”

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced yesterday (April 6) that all Singaporeans above the age of 21 will receive a one-off cash payment of S$600 to cushion the weight that social-distancing measures have caused. This financial step shall cost the Government an extra S$1.1 billion as it increases the Solidarity Budget by S$300.

Singaporeans who provided the Government with their bank account details will receive the payout by April 14. While, the rest will receive the lump sum by cheque from April 30 onward.

2. “Changi Airport Terminal 2 to suspend operations for 18 months amid COVID-19 pandemic”

As the pandemic continues to affect the aviation sector, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan announced the upcoming closure of Changi Airport’s Terminal 2 (T2). It will suspend operations for 18 months, starting from May 1. Airlines operating at this terminal will be relocated to Changi’s other tree terminals.

The suspension of T2 operations will allow Changi Airport Group (CAG), its retailers, its airlines and its ground handling firms to save on running costs during this time. Moreover, it will speed up the current upgrading works at T2.

3. “Singapore Expo being prepared to house recovering Covid-19 patients”

Isolation areas have been prepared for COVID-19 patients and those who have been advised to have a 14-day quarantine. Health Minister Gan Kim Yong has confirmed last Sunday (April 5) that the Singapore Expo Convention Hall and Exhibition Centre is currently in the process of being turned into a facility to care patients who are on the road to recovery. This will help ensure that there will be continued hospital capacity to treat patients with severe symptoms.

According to him: “For patients with mild symptoms, generally they don’t need any medical support. In fact, they can actually recover and be cared for in these facilities until they are well and can be discharged, without having to go to the hospitals.”

Let us do our part to heal as one by being responsible for our actions.

4. “Durable, self-disinfecting coating applied on all HDB lift buttons”

One of the things that we frequently touch on a daily basis is the lift button. Teams from Singapore’s 16 town councils applied a self-disinfecting coating to the lift buttons over the past two weeks. This was made possible by the donation of 650 litres of sdst by the Changi Airport Group’s (CAG) philanthropic arm Changi Foundation. The self-disinfecting coating is called sdsr. It kills bacteria, viruses, and fungi upon contact.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

It remains in place, even with repeated cleaning and scrubbing, as chemical bonding agents help it to adhere tightly to surfaces at a molecular level. It is said to last for up to three months. That is one way to keep the HDB lifts and lift lobbies in Singapore safe!

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