<![CDATA[Coronavirus: Singapore launches new fast-track swab test kits for inbound travellers]>

Singapore has begun using a new swab test that could determine within hours if a person has been infected with coronavirus, as the city state ramps up measures to tackle the outbreak.

Visitors entering the Lion City who have a fever or respiratory symptoms, but are not defined as being a "clinical suspect case", have had to undergo the test since Thursday.

Suspect cases include people suffering from pneumonia or severe respiratory infections who have had recent travel history to Iran, northern Italy, Japan and South Korea " all of which have experienced major outbreaks of the virus that causes a pneumonia-like illness known as Covid-19 in recent weeks.

"The Covid-19 swab test kit deployed at checkpoints allows us to ... extend testing to lower-risk, symptomatic travellers," the health ministry said in a statement earlier this week. "The added precautions we are taking will help to reduce the risk of imported cases in Singapore."

A laboratory technician from Singapore's Home Team Science and Technology Agency pictured with part of the new test kits on Thursday. Photo: Bloomberg alt=A laboratory technician from Singapore's Home Team Science and Technology Agency pictured with part of the new test kits on Thursday. Photo: Bloomberg

Doctors worldwide have been scrambling to design tests that can offer an early diagnosis of the coronavirus, as hundreds of new cases continue to emerge outside China. Research teams in Hong Kong and Macau have come up with solutions that they say take about 30 to 40 minutes to detect the virus.

Singapore's swab test " developed by the country's Home Team Science and Technology Agency and Veredus Laboratories " shows results within three hours, but researchers say it has an accuracy of more than 99 per cent and yields a faster result compared to tests used in hospitals, which typically take seven hours.

The city state's health ministry has not disclosed the price of the new testing kits, but said that those currently used in hospitals cost around S$270 (US$195) " even though testing is free for all suspected cases.

Once a swab is taken, it is sent to a laboratory where the genetic information of the sample is extracted and copied many millions of times so that scientists can more easily detect and identify the virus.

Visitors will be allowed to carry on their journeys before the results are known but are advised to minimise contact with others as a precautionary measure, Singapore's home affairs ministry said. Those who test positive will be conveyed to the hospital in an ambulance, it added.

So far, only one person has been tested using the new swab kits.

The kits are part of a raft of measures implemented by Singapore's leaders in recent days in what they call a "new phase" of the city state's fight against the coronavirus, despite what seems to be a slowing rate of new cases.

The first phase of the fight was dealing with imported cases from mainland China, national development minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs a multi-ministerial task force on the virus, said on Friday.

"In this new phase, border controls will become less effective because you cannot identify a clear epidemic centre outside Singapore any more," he said.

"So as border controls become less effective, we have to redouble our efforts within Singapore. We are not in a helpless scenario. Increasingly, individual and social responsibilities have become a more important part of the defence."

Globally, confirmed coronavirus infections are nearing the 100,000 mark with more than 3,300 deaths reported.

Most cases have been in China, where the virus originated, but the next worst affected countries are South Korea, Italy and Iran " all of which have thousands of infections and scores of deaths.

In Singapore, there are currently 117 cases, of which 81 have recovered.

As part of efforts to combat the virus, Singapore on Friday announced that it would be making amendments to its Environmental Public Health Act to introduce mandatory cleaning standards pertaining to disinfection of "high contact areas" as well as pest and waste management.

The new requirements, to be progressively implemented by the National Environment Agency, will start with "higher-risk premises" with high footfall and vulnerable occupants, such as preschools, care homes for the elderly, and hawker centres.

The amendments are part of a new campaign called the SG Clean Taskforce.

"Although Singapore is generally considered a clean and green city, we want to further step up cleanliness and hygiene standards in all facets of our lives, and make these our new norms beyond the immediate Covid-19 situation," said Masagos Zulkifli, the environment and water resources minister.

Masagos stressed that citizens would need to make some changes " such as ensuring they use serving spoons to share food and return trays in public dining areas " in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.

"This is the best way forward because this is how we can carry on with our lives. All we have to do is to make some adjustments," he said.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.