Q&M dentists, staff volunteer to administer Covid-19 swab tests

MORE than 90 dentists and staff from Q&M Dental Group have volunteered to administer swab tests to residents of various factory-converted foreign worker dormitories and government quarantine facilities.

The team was deployed on April 23 and led by doctors Mohan, Alvin Lee and Yao Chao Shu, among many others, the group announced in a press statement on Monday night.

Q&M said it started looking for volunteers when the number of confirmed cases within the foreign workers community started rising at an "alarming rate".

It later got in touch with the Ministry of Health so that its pool of volunteers could be deployed to sites where they were needed the most.

The dentists will be assisted by auxiliary staff from Q&M's pool of clinical staff while administering the swab tests. Samples from the swab tests will then be sent to government appointed labs for analysis.

The volunteers work in daily shifts starting at 9am. They are also equipped with N99 masks and other protective gear throughout their shifts to curb the spreading of the coronavirus, Q&M noted.

Said Ng Chin Siau, Q&M's group chief executive: "As a homegrown business, we believe it is part of our responsibility to assist the country in times like this. More importantly, as a healthcare group, we are well-positioned to provide the resources, capabilities and skill sets necessary to contend with a pandemic such as Covid-19.

"It is thus even more crucial that we step up and lend a hand to both Singaporeans and those who have left their home countries to contribute to ours."

As at 9.31am on Tuesday, Q&M shares were trading at 49 Singapore cents, down 0.5 cent or 1 per cent.