More than 14,000 people were tested on a weekly basis for Covid-19 in Dec. 2020, Minister for Lawrence Wong said in a ministerial statement delivered in Parliament on Jan. 4.

This was done through a mechanism in which people who visited a doctor with acute respiratory infections or flu-like symptoms were advised to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

That was how several recent cases were detected, he added.

In stressing the importance of seeing a doctor should one feel unwell, he said:

"It is very important for anyone who feels unwell to see the doctor immediately. And if the doctor advises you to be tested, please comply with the doctor’s instructions."

Rostered routine testing is carried out for higher-risk activities

In addition, a rostered routine testing (RRT) regime is carried out for people who are engaged in higher-risk activities, the minister further stated.

This applies to workers in the construction, marine and process sectors, as well as staff at the airport and at hotels that serve as Stay-Home-Notice (SHN) locations.

Special testing operations are also carried out from time to time among certain groups that have been assessed to be at a higher risk of Covid-19 transmission.

Such operations have been carried out among the staff of nursing homes, hawkers, as well as bus and taxi drivers, with a drive planned for students staying in university hostels this months, Wong added.

"Calculated risk-based approach" adopted for border controls

With regards to measures for controlling Singapore's borders, Wong pointed out that a "calculated risk-based approach" was being taken, given that Singapore could not afford to fully close completely.

As such, measures implemented on this basis include:

• Special travel arrangements with certain countries such as the establishment of fast lanes, with the China fast lane established in June 2020 seeing about 500 travellers enter in this manner.
• A new travel lane, called Connect@Singapore, aimed at a limited number of business, officials and high economic value travellers coming to Singapore for closely-monitored short-term stays, without a 14-day quarantine.
• Requiring all non-citizen and non-PR travellers from higher-risk countries to take a Covid-19 test within 72 hours prior to their departure to Singapore.
• Requiring residents and migrant workers returning from higher-risk countries to serve a 14-day SHN at dedicated facilities, with a test conducted at the end of their stay.

As for the number of travellers who have entered Singapore without a pre-departure Covid-19 test from higher-risk countries, including both PRs and citizens, Wong said this stood at more than 12,000 between Nov. 18 and Dec. 27 last year.

Vaccinated people will still be subjected to the same border controls

These measures are also expected to continue for some time in spite of ongoing vaccination, Wong further noted.

Adding that the effectiveness of the vaccine in reducing the transmission of Covid-19 was still being studied, he said that conditions are still being monitored.

If there is "clear evidence" that transmission risks can be significantly lowered, then the government may consider some relaxation of the SHN regime for vaccinated travellers.

But for now, a more cautious approach will be taken, where vaccinated travellers continue to be subject to prevailing border measures and SHN requirements.

Only way to allow Singapore to open up more is vaccinations

When PSP's Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai raised a question as to when Singapore might reach a "new normal", closer to the pre-Covid-19 situation, Wong replied:

"The one thing that can allow us to open up more is vaccinations. But we will only be able to get a significant number of people vaccinated, as we say, by the third quarter of the year."

As such, he added, there should not be a rush to make "big changes and big relaxations."

Noting that there were new strains of the virus emerging and that the virus was "raging" globally, opening up must be done "in a very controlled careful calibrated manner", he said.

Wong elaborated:

"Even after we have had a lot of people in Singapore vaccinated, it doesn't mean that everything is over, because no country is safe until everyone in the world is safe. And it will take some time for the whole world to get vaccinated.

So yes, getting all of us in Singapore vaccinated is important. It will enable us to move further in terms of relaxing measures for travel or resumption of activities within Singapore.

But if your hope is to get back to a pre-Covid sort of normal. I think we still have to be circumspect and we still have to be realistic."

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Top image screenshot from CNA