No Need to Take Unpaid Leave if Healthcare Workers Run Out of Sick Leave - Gov't

Following a request from the healthcare workers’ union, the sick leave of healthcare employees can be recorded as hospitalization leave.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Monday (February 21) thanked healthcare workers for their service to the public and made this announcement in support of their efforts.

MOH: Sick Leave to Be Recorded as Hospitalization Leave to Aid Healthcare Workers

He noted that to help minimize the spread of COVID-19, employers should not require medical certificates for people with mild symptoms, the Straits Times reported.

“I want to let you know that the Ministry of Health and your management will continue to do our best to support you, to pull through this difficult period, just as we ensured you have priority to vaccines and boosters, spread out cases by leveraging COVID-19 treatment facilities and general practitioners, and implemented the difficult no-visitors policy,” he wrote.

“We will continue to do whatever we can,” he added.

He also said that the travel lanes with the Philippines and India will be opened soon, allowing more foreign healthcare workers to visit their families.

To address the healthcare shortage in Singapore, the country’s Armed Forces are recruiting volunteers to work as medics in hospitals.

“For our healthcare workers, whether Delta or Omicron, I know your workload has been heavy,” Mr. Ong said.

“But MOH and the multi-ministry taskforce will also need to continue to explain to the public that Omicron is less severe than Delta because from the public’s point of view, they need to know that Omicron poses less of a risk,” he explained.

He said this would help people avoid going to hospitals after their conditions improve.

In his letter, Ong noted that he was worried about the safety measures being implemented at this time.

The micro rules do not make a difference in the fight against the pandemic, he said. Instead, the public should be more concerned with the measures that can still help minimize the impact of the situation.