Recent news from around the globe has been dominated by reports on the Wuhan Coronavirus.
While the Ministry of Health (MOH) continues to effectively monitor the situation closely, everyone has a part to play in preventing the spread of infection.
This is especially so for Building Management teams, that will need to step up their precautions in commercial and residential developments.
We have listed some measures below which can help residents of condos and estates across Singapore. We also encourage you to share these tips with your building management office and have a conversation if you are worried that no precautions are being put in place.
1) Share a health advisory
First and foremost, your building management committee must advise people to take proper precautions during this period. These include:
- Observing good personal hygiene, such as frequent hand washing with soap
- Wearing a surgical mask if you are coughing and sneezing
- Seeking immediate medical attention if you fall sick
- Avoiding close contact with people who are unwell or showing symptoms of illness
Email and SMS reminders should be sent to all building staff including security guards, maintenance workers and cleaners to remind them of the safety precautions.
2) Introduce temperature screening
Where possible, visitors to condos and office buildings should undergo temperature screening to make sure they are not running a fever, which is one of the symptoms of the virus. Those with fever or respiratory problems should seek immediate medical attention. In addition, they should not be allowed to enter the premises if they are a suspect case.
3) Enforce medical leave
Building management committees should remind their tenants (including offices and retail outlets) to monitor the health of their staff, encouraging them to take medical leave if they are unwell and only return to work after recovering fully.
4) Distribute hand sanitisers and masks (when needed)
As a gesture of goodwill, the committee representatives can distribute hand sanitisers and masks to help protect those living in the building or condos, and or any of their staff, such as security guards and cleaners who work in crowded areas and are more at risk of catching the virus.
5) Get details of visitors to premises
While done on most days, it is important during this period to record the contact details of all visitors to facilitate contact tracing if needed. At the same time, any suspect cases should be reported to the MOH.
6) Stringent checks on short-term rents
Building managers should remind homeowners of the severe penalties for illegally subletting their rooms or units on a short-term basis, especially if it risks endangering the health and safety of other residents.
If someone were to catch the virus, it would put other residents at risk and they might have to be quarantined, causing much inconvenience and distress.
7) Sanitise common areas
While keeping an eye on the health of residents and tenants within the condo, it would work well to sanitise common areas with extra caution. After use, function rooms, courts, gyms and other areas should be sanitized well. Incase, any case is identified within the premises, it is best to close these for use of the residents.
8) All homeowners, tenants and residents to play their part
While the government is effectively monitoring the situation in Singapore closely and has called for calm, homeowners, tenants and residents have a crucial role to play in preventing the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.
- Refer to the official government Ministry of Health webpage for precautions you can take and ongoing updates: https://www.moh.gov.sg/2019-ncov-wuhan
- Do not speculate and/or spread unfounded rumours. Please visit the above page for updates on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) situation.
- Share this check list and information with your building management if you are worried there in no current action being made to help with the prevention and spreading of the Wuhan coronavirus.
- Update: The Government will give every Singapore household a pack of 4 masks from 01 Feb to 09 Feb 2020. Click here to find out where you can collect the masks that has been set aside for your household, or call 1800-333-9999
Refer to the MOH infographic below on “How and when to wear your mask”
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