Those who need a Covid-19 test can get it from 600 approved providers, says Gan

ANY company or individual who requires a Covid-19 test will be able to procure such services from about 600 approved providers, Singapore's authorities said on Tuesday, in a move to make testing more accessible.

This also means that individuals who require pre-departure polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing will no longer need approval from the Ministry of Health (MOH) for these tests, Gan Kim Yong, Health Minister and co-chair of Singapore's multi-ministry task force to tackle Covid-19, said during a virtual press conference.

Meanwhile, inbound travellers who are not Singaporean or permanent residents (PR) from countries or regions that are not deemed "lower risk" will need to take a Covid-19 PCR test within 72 hours of their departure, said Lawrence Wong, co-chair of the task force and also Education Minister.

Whether a country is considered "lower risk" or "higher risk" depends on the prevalence rate, the measures, as well as the incidence rate among travellers who enter Singapore from that country, he said.

At the same time, Singapore has set up an expert committee on Covid-19 vaccination, comprising experts in infectious diseases, immunology and other relevant fields.

This comes on the back of news reports that Singapore could have a vaccine co-developed by researchers by early 2021, even as American pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer has announced a promising vaccine that is 90 per cent effective.

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The expert committee is expected to "advise us, looking at data that's available on these vaccines, and to decide whether they're safe for us to use, for which particular segment of population and the number of doses we will need for that", said Mr Gan, who added that more information will be shared soon.

Kenneth Mak, director of medical services at MOH, described Pfizer's announcement as "very welcome", and that it has led to "cautious optimism that we may see several vaccine candidates (get) past their Phase Three studies and become available for clinical use".

He added that the current thinking is to not depend on any single vaccine candidate, but to develop a portfolio of vaccines that may be relevant and appropriate for the various segments of the population.

As to when Singapore is able to start Phase Three of its reopening, Mr Wong said it depends on when "all the stars are aligned" with regard to TraceTogether participation rates and continued cooperation and compliance with prevailing safe-distancing measures.

At the moment, participation rate is still under 50 per cent, he said. The authorities had previously set a target of 70 per cent take-up rate in the population, for Singapore to be ready to move to Phase Three.