Covid-19 testing is critical, but cannot be a substitute for personal responsibility and safe distancing measures, says Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong.

According to Wong, who is also the co-chair of the Multi-Ministry Taskforce for Covid-19, an individual who tests negative for Covid-19 may still have the virus, if he or she is still in the infection's incubation phase.

"Remember even when you test it will not be 100 per cent, there is a chance that you can test negative, but you are in the incubation phase.

And so the test will not pick up the virus during that phase. So, all of these things have been have to be done as part of a holistic strategy in order for us to suppress, slow down the spread of the virus, and ultimately defeat COVID-19."

This means that while testing is important, other measures such as minimising contact with others and upholding personal hygiene are also vital in making up a holistic strategy to tackle Covid-19.

Early detection is vital to prevent clusters from forming

Speaking on Monday (April 27) evening at a press conference, Wong said the government is starting to test workers in essential sectors more regularly, particularly those working in vulnerable areas.

This includes staff working in nursing homes, who come into frequent and close contact with elderly, as well as healthcare workers and frontline officers who come into close contact with confirmed cases.

Such testing helps the government detect Covid-19 cases early, and to prevent clusters from forming.

This increased testing is vital, said Wong, as the government is planning for "a phase beyond the Circuit Breaker".

He said that while Singapore will eventually want to gradually relax current restrictions as community cases decrease, this needs to be done in a safe manner, in order not to risk the creation of new infection clusters.

This, Wong added, involves scaling up testing capacity beyond existing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) kits, but also new technologies that might be available, such as point-of-care test kits that can be scaled up more rapidly.

Stay home, minimise contact, don't go to work if you're not feeling well, even if you're in essential services

However, Wong warned that although building up testing capability is important, testing alone cannot be a substitute for personal responsibility and safe distancing measures.

He then urged Singaporeans to stay home during this period, minimise contact with others, and to uphold good personal hygiene, in order to slow down the spread of the virus.

"Minimise all contact. Go to work, go back home. And if you're not feeling well, it's critical. Don't go to work," said Wong.

He said that the government has been reminding people not to go to work when they have mild symptoms, and urged Singaporeans to continue to uphold these basic precautions and safeguards.

"And while we can do more tests, and we want to do more regular tests, testing is never going to be 100 per cent right...

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."

Top images via Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Lawrence Wong on Facebook