Singapore has advised all its citizens to reconsider non-essential travel to the Philippines and 19 other countries with COVID-19 outbreak.
For Filipino workers in Singapore, the Philippine Embassy in the city-state is advising to refrain from travelling to the Philippines as well.
This is because the Ministry of Manpower has released new guidelines requiring employers whose employees have travelled or transited to the Philippines in the last 14 days to secure the approval of the Singaporean government first.
“The Philippine Embassy advises…Filipinos residing and working in Singapore to defer non-essential travel to the Philippines as returning to Singapore will require pre-clearance from the Ministry of Health or Ministry of Manpower (which may take up to 1 month) and the uncertainty of getting a return flight to Singapore,” the embassy said in its advisory.
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OFWs, likewise, are required to submit a health and travel declaration to their employees before they return to Singapore.
“All employees with recent travel history to ASEAN countries, Japan, Switzerland and the United Kingdom within the last 14 days and arriving after 16 March 2020, 2359 hrs will be required to remain in their place of residence at all times for a 14-day period under the Stay-Home Notice (SHN),” the Ministry of Manpower guidelines released yesterday added.
The employee will be on a company-imposed leave of absence during the 14-day quarantine period.
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Likewise, If the Filipino employee who “exhibit fever and/or other symptoms of respiratory illness upon arrival, regardless of travel history, will be required to remain in their place of residence at all times for a 14-day period under the Stay-Home Notice (SHN).”
Employers, on one hand, should give paid leave to the employee concerned during the quarantine peirod or if the employe’s return is delayed due to flight inability or pre-entry approval by MOM.
