SINGAPORE: The Tamil Language Festival 2020 will be postponed until further notice in view of the COVID-19 situation, the Tamil Language Council said on Monday (Feb 17).
Council chairman Mr S Manogaran said that the decision to postpone the festival – originally scheduled to be held from Apr 4 to May 3 – was not easy.
“However, many of our festival programmes are meant for students and families. Their safety and well-being, as well as that of our partners is our priority.
“As such, we have decided to postpone the Festival, which is in line with the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) advisory to cancel or defer large-scale events in view of the COVID-19 situation,” he said.
READ: What you need to know about additional precautionary measures under DORSCON Orange
Mr Manogaran added that he would like to thank the festival’s funding, programme and venue partners, as well as the community for their understanding and support.
He said that the council will continue to monitor the situation as well as work closely with supporting agencies and community partners.
Three new COVID-19 cases were confirmed on Sunday, bringing Singapore’s total number of cases to 75.
READ: DORSCON: What you need to know about the framework that guides Singapore’s pandemic response
Following several cases of COVID-19 without any links to previous cases or travel history to mainland China, Singapore on Feb 7 raised its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) level to Orange from Yellow.
With immediate effect, inter-school and external activities will be suspended until the end of the March school holidays, said MOH. These include the national school games, learning journeys and camps.
COVID-19 has killed more than 1,770 and infected more than 70,500 mostly in mainland China. It has spread to more than 25 countries, including Japan, Malaysia and Thailand.
The biggest cluster outside China is on a quarantined cruise ship outside Japan with 356 infections confirmed, including a quarantine officer.
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