SINGAPORE: Scaling up the capacity to test for COVID-19 will be a “key enabler” for Singapore to move beyond the “circuit breaker” period, said Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong on Monday (Apr 27).
Speaking at a press conference, Mr Wong said that authorities are starting to test essential workers - such as those in healthcare and in nursing homes - more regularly, particularly those who work with the vulnerable and senior citizens.
AdvertisementAdvertisementDescribing this aspect of testing as “critical” as Singapore plans for a phase beyond the circuit breaker, Mr Wong said: “Eventually we will want to gradually relax our restrictions as our community cases come down and resume activities. This needs to be done in a safe manner without us risking new infection clusters from forming.
“All countries are grappling with this as they move out of their lockdowns, relax measures, how to go about doing this in a safe manner. And the key enabler for this is really to have a scaled-up testing capacity.”
This is why Singapore is ramping up its testing capacity. Apart from the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, authorities are also looking into new technologies that might be available, including point-of-care test kits that can be scaled up more rapidly.
While testing is a key component of Singapore's strategy, Mr Wong stressed that it “cannot be a substitute” for personal responsibility like practising good hygiene and taking safe distancing measures seriously.
AdvertisementAdvertisementFor essential workers, they must continue to take precautions, he added. This includes minimising contact with colleagues throughout the day. They should not go to work if they feel unwell, as they could potentially be transmitting the infection to others in the workplace, he stressed.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong noted that the presence of unlinked cases means that there is still underlying COVID-19 transmission in the community that has not been detected.
“Because these cases have to come from someone, and that someone has not been identified. And therefore, we have to bear in mind that they will always be transmission that is ongoing in the community," he cautioned.
While there may “still be some risks” with undetected cases in the community, Singapore has to manage and reduce the risk before the circuit breaker measures can be opened up or reduced, he added.
“Even as we remove the circuit breaker measures, we need to do it progressively. We need to do so in a safe way to prevent the resurgence of new cases and new clusters, which will be another problem again,” said Mr Gan.
When asked about home-based businesses which are now not allowed to operate as part of enhanced measures, Mr Wong urged people to "hunker down" until at least May 4 to "decisively" bring down infections within the community.
“The current rules do not allow for home-based F&B, we’ve made that very clear. But if and when the community numbers do continue to come down, as we said, we are going to review the measures and if the numbers have been brought down, we may very well relax some of the restrictions, ease up on some of these restrictions. And at that time we will let Singaporeans know when this or any other activity that we think can start will be able to start resuming.”
He added that authorities are trying to get the number of community cases down to a single digit.
"It is not there yet - not just single digit in one day but consistently over a period of time," he said. "If we all do our part, I am confident we can achieve this. When this happens, we will gradually ease up measures and resume activities."
Mr Wong also stressed that individuals still need to exercise personal and social responsibility even after the circuit breaker.
“We should still try very hard to minimise our social interactions because it only takes one person, interacting in a group in close quarters with many people to cause another cluster from happening,” he said.
“While we can do more tests and we want to do more regular tests, testing is never going to be 100 per cent,” Mr Wong added. “It only takes that one person, that one missed test, that may be infected to cause new clusters from happening.”
“As we plan for beyond circuit breaker, opening up, relaxation of some measures, opening up of some activities, let’s still bear in mind the importance of all of us exercising individual responsibility when it comes to (the) wearing of masks, safe distancing, good hand hygiene and personal hygiene,” he said.
“All of these things are still of utmost importance in order for us to be able to sustain this fight against the virus all the way through the end of the year and maybe even beyond the end of the year.”
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