Singapore's circuit breaker period will be extended until June 1, in order to allow time for the current measures to kick in.

This was announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his fifth address to the nation on the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.

Number of unlinked cases has not come down

According to PM Lee, the circuit breaker measures are beginning to have an effect, as the number of community cases has fallen in recent days.

However, Singaporeans cannot afford to be complacent, and must press on "to bring down daily infections more sharply, to a single-digit, or even zero".

PM Lee also emphasised the importance of reducing the number of unlinked cases, noting that the number has not come down.

"This suggests that there is a larger, hidden reservoir of Covid-19 cases in the community, and this reservoir is the source of these unlinked cases, which we have not detected," said PM Lee.

Hence, in order to bring down the community numbers decisively, and to prevent any leakage of cases from dorms to the wider community, PM Lee said that the nation must press on with tight circuit breaker measures.

He called on Singaporeans to stay home, and only go out for essential needs, such as buying food or groceries.

PM Lee also said that if going out is necessary, members of the public should go by themselves, not as a group or as a family.

Circuit breaker was first announced on April 3, originally slated to end May 4

Last month (April 3), PM Lee announced the imposition of significantly stricter measures to deal with Covid-19, which he termed a "circuit breaker".

The Circuit Breaker period, as we know, began on April 7, and was originally due to end on May 4.

Under the circuit breaker measures, most workplaces were shut down or mandated to telecommuting, apart from those related to essential services.

Schools and institutes of higher learning (IHLs) also moved to full home-based learning.

PM Lee at the time advised Singaporeans to stay at home as much as possible, and said gatherings should be confined to members of the same household.

He also said people should only go out to do "essential things", such as going to buy food, or work in essential services.

Top image from MCI.