Ministers defend govt's handling of Covid-19 crisis

Singapore

THE government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic came to the fore during the sixth day of the election campaign on Sunday, with at least three ministers commenting on the issue.

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong rebutted earlier allegations by Singapore Democratic Party chairman Paul Tambyah that the government's multi-ministry Covid-19 task force did not rely on medical experts in its battle against the virus.

Mr Wong, the co-chair of the task force, said such allegations were "baseless and false". Speaking to the media at a press conference, he said that the task force had always relied on scientific evidence and the advice of medical experts before arriving at its decisions.

Mr Wong also took the opportunity to clarify Prof Tambyah's comments at a pre-general election forum last Friday.

At that event, the opposition politician said that the Manpower Ministry (MOM) had sent an advisory earlier this year to warn foreign worker employers that they risk losing their work permit privileges if they send their workers to hospitals for Covid-19 testing.

Mr Wong said that advisory was sent in February after some workers at Seletar Aerospace Park were infected. Employers then arranged for their workers to head to the A&E departments of hospitals to get tested so that doctors could give those who tested negative the all-clear to work.

"(Prof Tambyah) has got his facts wrong. It was not MOM that issued the advice unilaterally. Doctors and experts requested MOM to put out the advisory to employers," said Mr Wong.

"I fully respect Prof Tambyah as a leading expert in the field, but it is disappointing that he has chosen to distort facts just to score some political points," the minister said.

Mr Wong also stressed that, despite the election, the work of the task force still continues and they meet regularly and monitor reports on a daily basis.

"(Prof Tambyah) claims the (task force) is distracted. But it seems that he is the one who is politicking and undermining the work of everyone in the frontlines now," said Mr Wong.

At a walkabout in Whampoa, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said that, during the months of February and March, the government's priority at that time was to look after the wellbeing of Singaporeans.

"We were worried that if large numbers of healthy foreign workers were allowed to go and be tested at the hospitals and clinics, would it affect how we look after Singaporeans?" she said.

"Our priority was clear during that period - it was to look after the health of Singaporeans. Our hospitals could not be devoting the majority of their efforts to testing healthy workers, and compromise the process of treating Singaporeans."

Mrs Teo charged that the opposition parties are "twisting the facts". She said: "We never said foreign workers could not be sent for testing. By now, our testing of migrant workers is the most extensive in the world."

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung also weighed in on the government's response to the Covid-19 outbreak, noting that this is a "valid question" that must be discussed in the next few days as the nation approaches Polling Day on Friday.

Singapore's local transmission of the virus is low, and the situation in the foreign worker dormitories is under control and "getting better by the day", he said at a walkabout at Kampung Admiralty.

And unlike many other countries in the world, Singapore's healthcare system is not under pressure, he said.

"By the end of the month, we are aiming for 80 per cent of our foreign workers to be ready for work again after testing, segregation and (following a) routine," said Mr Ong. "I think we can evaluate the (government's) performance based on some objective markers."

On Sunday, the Health Ministry reported another 136 Covid-19 cases, taking the country's total to 44,800. The new patients include 18 community cases, comprising six Singaporeans or permanent residents, and 12 work pass holders.

Of these 18 cases, five were close contacts of earlier cases and had already been placed on quarantine.

There were also seven imported cases, all of whom had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore. Migrant workers living in dormitories made up the vast majority of the other cases.