Adjustments to Current COVID-19 Measures and Easing into Endemic Stage
Ministry of HealthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the development of long-term medical treatments, the extent of wastewater testing, and support for small businesses complying with mandatory testing as Singapore transitions to an endemic COVID-19 stage. Members of Parliament also raised inquiries regarding the revision of outdoor masking protocols and the future demand and flexibility of COVID-related temporary staffing roles within the healthcare workforce. These questions sought details on lessons learned from residential surveillance, the supervision of swabs for high-risk settings, and the potential scaling of operations. Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung responded to the five Members of Parliament by requesting to address their collective queries during his later Ministerial Statement. Consequently, the specific policy updates and responses were deferred to the Minister's subsequent address to the House.
Transcript
1 Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for Health with regard to the Government’s COVID-19 strategy in the long term when the virus becomes endemic, what steps are being taken to develop medical treatment options for patients infected with the virus in future.
2 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Health (a) how extensive is wastewater testing for traces of COVID-19 being currently conducted across the various HDB and private housing estates in Singapore; and (b) what are the lessons learned from wastewater testing in recent COVID-19 cases in Hougang and Yishun.
3 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Health with regard to the mandatory 14-day COVID-19 testing for businesses in high-risk settings (a) whether the Government will provide assistance to one-man operations to help them comply with the new regulations; and (b) what form of supervision is there over their swabs.
4 Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim asked the Minister for Health whether the Ministry has considered revising the guidelines on indoor versus outdoor masking protocols in light of emerging evidence that outdoor transmission rates tend to be significantly lower than indoor transmission.
5 Ms Raeesah Khan asked the Minister for Health as Singapore moves towards an endemic strategy in dealing with COVID-19 (a) whether a decrease in the number of COVID-19-related temporary roles can be expected; (b) whether the demand for such roles will be expected to vary based on the prevailing COVID-19 situation; and (c) what are the Ministry's plans to maintain flexibility in our COVID-19 response in terms of staffing so as to be able to scale up operations should the situation require it.
The Minister for Health (Mr Ong Ye Kung): Mr Deputy Speaker, may I answer Question Nos 1 to 5 in my Ministerial Statement later, please?
Mr Deputy Speaker: Yes, proceed. Question No 6, Mr Saktiandi Supaat.