Daily Briefing: Chipmakers count on less disruption during Singapore lockdown; Health Ministry expands rules for returning residents

And Singapore food agency ramps up rooftop farming plans.

From Reuters:

Computer chip makers are banking on less disruptions to their factories from this week’s strict lockdown in Singapore. This is compared to the havoc wreaked on their supply chains last month when Malaysia and the Philippines imposed restrictions about “essential” operations.

However, with no uniform global definition of “essential,” industry executives say their delicate supply chains have hit snags as lockdowns played out differently in different countries.

Chip firms hope Singapore, where officials explicitly named semiconductors as an essential business, will cause fewer disruptions.

Earlier lockdown confusion affected makers of all sorts of chips scrambling to combat the pandemic.

From Bloomberg:

All Singapore citizens, permanent residents, and long-term pass holders entering Singapore will be required to serve a 14-day isolation period at dedicated facilities, according to a statement of the Ministry of Health.

This is an expansion of previous requirements which mandated that returnees from the UK, the US, France, India and Switzerland serve out quarantine in dedicated facilities.

The Ministry of Health said it had stepped up capacity and is able to accommodate fresh returnees from all countries. Singapore may resume allocating facilities for returnees from certain regions or countries if there are unexpected capacity constraints, according to the ministry.

Separately, the government has banned all private gatherings starting from 8 April, according to a statement.

From Reuters:

The Singapore food agency will launch a tender for rooftop farms on public housing car parks for urban farming starting next month, authorities said.

New measures were announced to accelerate local food production including a plan to turn car park rooftops in public housing estates into urban farms.

The densely populated city-state produces only about 10% of its food needs but has plans to increase that as climate change and population growth threaten global food supplies.

In response to the outbreak, authorities aim to speed up local production over the next six months to two years.

This includes providing a $30m grant to support production of eggs, leafy vegetables, and fish in the shortest time possible, and identifying alternative farming spaces, such as industrial areas and vacant sites.

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