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The latest government move to expand Covid-19 testing to community groups is a good strategy for detecting asymptomatic infections, Professor Teo Yik Ying, dean of the National University of Singapore’s Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said yesterday. NUS).
But he added that making such a scheme mandatory would not be an efficient way to use Singapore’s testing capacity, especially given the low community broadcast rate here, as the vast majority of tests in such a scenario will likely turn out negative.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) said last Saturday that it would offer a one-time coronavirus test to groups such as taxi drivers and private rental car drivers and food delivery workers to get a better picture of the prevalence of Covid-19 in the community. .
Other groups that will be included in this scheme are key suppliers who serve the dormitories of foreign workers, as well as street vendors in street vending centers, markets, and similar food and beverage establishments such as cafeterias.
The government will pay for the costs of such tests in full, but they are not required.
Instead, the MOH said it “strongly encourages” people in those groups to get tested.
Professor Teo told The Straits Times yesterday: “Based on the current community spread situation in Singapore, where our case counts are actually very low, making this scheme mandatory (one) will mean (diverting) tens of thousands of tests to detect these people, where the vast majority will be negative.
“Going straight to mandatory testing will not be an efficient use of our testing capacity.”
He added that making the plan voluntary will allow authorities to get a sense of the prevalence of overlooked asymptomatic infections in the community among “high contact” groups.
“If we find out that the prevalence is actually not low, this will be a signal to make testing more systematic, perhaps by making it mandatory,” he added.
In Hong Kong, voluntary coronavirus tests have produced less than satisfactory results.
The territory announced such a plan for its entire population on Tuesday, but, on its second day, only a tenth of its 7.5 million inhabitants had signed up, far less than the amount needed for authorities to discover of comprehensively hidden infections.
In Wuhan of China, the original epicenter of the outbreak, mandatory mass testing for 11 million people was carried out from May 14 to June 1.
The authorities have reopened all their schools and national tourists have returned.
Professor Teo noted that Singapore has some key features that make voluntary testing suitable.
“Singapore is smaller, and this makes it easier to coordinate our detection. Our community transmission rates are also very low, and this makes a voluntary scheme much more relevant to understanding the extent of asymptomatic infections in the community.” , said.
Associate Professor Tan Ern Ser from the department of sociology at the NUS College of Arts and Social Sciences said that while a mandatory testing scheme may provide a better guarantee that the virus is no longer lurking among the population, it would be more expensive in terms of time. and money.
He said voluntary testing would be practical only if the coronavirus situation was reasonably well contained, as it is here today.
Singapore already has precautionary measures, he said, such as mandatory use of masks and safe distancing, allowing community cases to stay low.
Noting how most of the people here have been complying with such measures, he added: “Most Singaporeans are law-abiding and would police themselves …
“Singaporeans are pragmatic people, they would do whatever it takes to get back to their preferred lifestyle.”
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