Clarification by Senior Minister of State for Health
Ministry of HealthSpeakers
Summary
This clarification concerns factual corrections by Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon regarding health declarations and Nipah virus monitoring measures. He clarified that the SG Arrival Card only prompts asymptomatic travelers for travel history if they visited specifically monitored regions to balance compliance with seamless entry. Additionally, healthcare alerts have been issued and monitoring at migrant worker onboarding centers has been tightened to ensure proactive isolation and care for symptomatic individuals. Travelers from at-risk areas are advised to monitor for symptoms for 14 days post-arrival, maintaining a cautious national posture to contain potential outbreaks. Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon concluded that while border observation is intensified, pursuing research into vaccine targets remains premature at this stage.
Transcript
The following reply was provided by the Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Koh Poh Koon) during Question Time for Question No 1 at the Parliament Sitting of 12 February 2026:
The Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Koh Poh Koon): [W]e have enhanced the electronic health declaration card, which is part of the SG Arrival Card. In this format, if the arriving individual, clicks yes on the SG Arrival Card to any of the symptoms, then there will be a prompt to enter the previous travel destination, and that would include the West Bengal region as well. But if the person clicks no to any of the symptoms, then he would not be prompted for any travel destinations that we are monitoring. So, it is to make sure that there are no excessive compliance needs on the individual submitting the information card to make it seamless. At the same time, we do not want to end up having over-declaration for those with no symptoms. [Please refer to "Health Screenings for Those from Countries with High-risk of Nipah Virus, and Healthcare Advisories to Doctors and Public", Official Report, 12 February 2026, Vol 96, Issue 17, Oral Answers to Questions section.]
Written statement by Dr Koh Poh Koon circulated with leave of the Speaker in accordance with Standing Order No 29(5):
I wish to make the following factual correction to my statement made during Question Time for Question No 1 at the Sitting on 12 February 2026. My statement should read as follows:
The Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Koh Poh Koon): [W]e have enhanced the electronic health declaration card, which is part of the SG Arrival Card. In this format, if the arriving individual, clicks yes on the SG Arrival Card to any of the symptoms, then there will be a prompt to enter the previous travel destination, and that would include the West Bengal region as well. But if the person clicks no to any of the symptoms, then he would not be prompted for any travel destinations, except those that we are already monitoring. So, it is to make sure that there are no excessive compliance needs on the individual submitting the information card to make it seamless. At the same time, we do not want to end up having over-declaration for those with no symptoms.
The following reply was provided by the Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Koh Poh Koon) during Question Time for Question No 2 at the Parliament Sitting of 12 February 2026:
The Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Koh Poh Koon): Nonetheless, we have stepped up our national posture and issued out alerts to healthcare practitioners, institutions, as well as tighten some of the monitoring at our migrant worker onboarding centre to make sure that we keep our borders under some observation. For any incoming individuals who may have symptoms, to take proactive actions to contain, to isolate and also to give them supportive care if necessary; and at the same time, also to help them to monitor their symptoms within the first 14 days of arrival in Singapore, for example. So, we are adopting a cautious posture, but looking for vaccine target at this moment is premature. [Please refer to "Local Research into Nipah Virus Diagnostic Kits and Vaccines", Official Report, 12 February 2026, Vol 96, Issue 17, Oral Answers to Questions section.]
Written statement by Dr Koh Poh Koon circulated with leave of the Speaker in accordance with Standing Order No 29(5):
I wish to make the following factual correction to my statement made during Question Time for Question No 2 at the Sitting on 12 February 2026. My statement should read as follows:
The Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Koh Poh Koon): Nonetheless, we have stepped up our national posture and issued out alerts to healthcare practitioners, institutions, as well as tighten some of the monitoring at our migrant worker onboarding centre to make sure that we keep our borders under some observation. For any incoming individuals who may have symptoms, to take proactive actions to contain, to isolate and also to give them supportive care if necessary; and at the same time, also to advised them to monitor for symptoms if they had been in at-risk areas 14 days prior to arrival in Singapore, for example. So, we are adopting a cautious posture, but looking for vaccine target at this moment is premature.