We thank Ms Faustina Chay for her letter (Is weekly swab test for NSmen needed?, Oct 28).

As the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) resumes training and exercises to maintain its operational readiness, more national service (NS) units are expected to be called up, and this may involve large numbers of soldiers as well as proximity to one another for some modules of training.

To minimise the risk of infection due to Covid-19 during such NS training, the SAF has introduced a weekly swab test where appropriate.

This added measure complements and provides another protective layer to other safety measures such as safe distancing and cohorting where applicable.

Detection of positive cases from the swab tests will allow quick isolation of affected persons to stop further spread of infection among units.

The SAF will continue to monitor the effectiveness of measures introduced to maintain the health and safety of all our servicemen during training.

Lee Wei Ting (Colonel) (Dr)

Chief Army Medical Officer

Singapore Armed Forces