Testing capacity, control of virus spread key to restoring aviation links: Ong Ye Kung

INCREASED testing capacity and advancements in testing technology could replace border closures and stay-home notices - which are big deterrents for travel - on a selective basis, said Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung in Parliament on Tuesday.

Testing capacity for Covid-19 is no longer a "major constraint" in Singapore, and more than 27,000 individuals are tested daily using diagnostic polymerase chain reaction tests, he said in his ministerial statement.

The country is also on track to increase testing capacity to 40,000 tests a day by November, and will be leveraging the private sector to develop commercial testing capacity, Mr Ong added.

Testing technology has also advanced, he said, with "promising tests" that provide a quicker turnaround time. Trials are also ongoing for less intrusive tests using deep-throat saliva and rapid test kits that can deliver results on the spot without having to send samples to a laboratory.

Mr Ong said: "Part of this increased capacity will be allocated to test air travellers.

"With high-sensitivity tests, we can filter out the virus at the border, better still before the traveller boards the plane, and significantly mitigate the risk of importing and spreading the virus in Singapore."

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He added that testing is the "key to unlock air travel".

Over the next few months, there are plans to set up a dedicated Covid-19 testing laboratory to support aviation recovery. Changi Airport has already set up a facility to swab up to 10,000 passengers a day.

Apart from testing capacity, Mr Ong said that Singapore's efforts in keeping community spread and within the foreign worker dormitories largely under control also "matter greatly to countries and regions seeking partners to restore aviation links".

The number of new cases in the community has remained stable at an average of one case per day in the last two weeks, and no fatalities resulting from complications due to Covid-19 infection have occurred since mid-July. For many weeks now, no patients have been admitted to the intensive-care unit due to Covid-19 infection or its complications, the minister said.

Technologies such as SafeEntry and the TraceTogether app and tokens used for contact tracing have also complemented the work of human contact tracers and reduced the risk of community outbreak.

"Because of all these developments, internationally, there is now a desire to cautiously and steadily open up air travel again," said Mr Ong.