SINGAPORE — Health Minister Gan Kim Yong has instructed the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) office to issue a correction direction to Mr Alex Tan, the owner of the States Times Review (STR) Facebook page, over a post about the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Pofma office has also been asked to issue a targeted correction direction to Facebook.

In a media statement, the Pofma office said that several false statements were made in a post on the STR Facebook page on Feb 13.

The Pofma office laid out the false statements made by Mr Tan in an article on Factually — a government fact-checking website — and debunked them.

What STR said:

• The Singapore government is unable to trace the source of infection for any of the infected Covid-19 cases in Singapore.

What Factually said:

• As of 12pm on Feb 13, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has established through epidemiological investigation and contact tracing that 51 out of the 58 cases have either had travel history to mainland China, or links with previously announced cases. Contact tracing is underway for the remaining seven locally-transmitted cases in an attempt to establish any links to previous cases or travel history to mainland China.

What STR said:

• The government is "the only one" telling the public not to wear a mask.

What Factually said:

• MOH's advice that there is no need for individuals who are well to wear a mask is in line with the World Health Organization's guidance on the use of masks in the community in the context of the Covid-19 outbreak. Health authorities in other countries such as the US and Australia have also expressly advised that they do not recommend that masks be worn by people who are well.

What STR said:

• Each "China worker" will also get S$100 a day for 14 days of leave of absence, fully paid for by the Singapore government.

What Factually said:

• Chinese Work Pass holders placed on a mandatory 14-day Leave of Absence (LOA) do not receive the S$100 daily support. Instead, it is their employer who would receive the support. Under the Leave of Absence Support Programme (LOASP), eligible employers can apply for S$100 daily per affected worker for the required duration of paid LOA granted to the worker. The LOASP also covers all workers, regardless of nationality.

What STR said:

• Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said that she was “working hard” to bring more workers from China into Singapore.

What Factually said:

• At no time did Mrs Teo say she was working hard to bring more Chinese workers back to Singapore. In fact, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) requires employers of work pass holders with travel history to mainland China to obtain prior approval so as to slow down their workers’ return to Singapore. MOM approved about 200 applications daily for planned arrivals between Feb 9 and 12, giving priority to applications in essential services like healthcare, transport and waste management so that operations in these sectors are not compromised. Many more applications were rejected.

What STR said:

• Seven countries have since banned travel to Singapore, citing lack of confidence in the Singapore government’s public health measures.

What Factually said:

• As of 8pm on Feb 13, no countries have banned travel to Singapore.

The Pofma office advised members of the public not to speculate or spread falsehoods and rumours.

They should rely on formal Government channels such as MOH’s official website and Gov.sg WhatsApp service to get accurate and up-to-date information on the Covid-19 situation here.