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Employers in Singapore should not be requesting medical certificates from employees who test positive for Covid-19 as the healthcare system here is already taxed due to the Omicron wave, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said on Feb. 22.

Employers and company human resource departments should excuse employees from returning to their workplaces and not make staff produce recovery memos or medical assessments from a doctor before being allowed back to work, Tan told reporters at the Ministry of Manpower's headquarters in Havelock Road, according to The Straits Times.

He added that those who want an official infection record can make an appointment to undergo a self-administered antigen rapid test (ART) under supervision at one of the combined test centres or quick test centres around the island that are fully funded by the government until March 15.

The test results will be reflected on one's HealthHub status within 30 minutes.

An SMS notification of the test result is also sufficient documentary proof of past infection.

An appeal to employers

He added that his appeal comes after seeing many reports on social media and feedback from colleagues about long lines at clinics and hospital emergency departments here.

Tan said he understood that there may be absenteeism concerns, but he called on HR departments and managers to exercise understanding.

"This is just a phase we are going through," he said.

Under Protocol 2, those down with Covid-19 should just isolate at home for the first 72 hours after testing positive, take an ART after three days, and end isolation after getting a negative result.

Tan previously said employees whose employers insist on MCs for sick leave for Covid-19 infection can approach MOM for further assistance.

Employers must provide leeway

Employers must also familiarise themselves with prevailing Covid-19 health protocols, and let staff back into workplaces after the required isolation period, Tan said.

This call for more understanding comes after general practitioner clinics, polyclinics and hospital emergency departments (EDs) here are stretched due to the latest Omicron surge.

"Doctors have also shared that many patients have been visiting them for the sole purpose of obtaining medical certificates just so they can submit them to their workplaces," Tan said

Tan said such visits are unnecessary.

However, in a written reply in Parliament on Feb. 18, Tan had said that MOM, the Singapore National Employers Federation and the National Trades Union Congress have not come across disputes arising from employers not allowing workers to self-isolate under Protocol 2 without an MC.

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