Swab tests for the coronavirus have been extended from public and private hospitals here to all 20 polyclinics and a number of general practitioner (GP) clinics.

The tests are for those who doctors suspect may have Covid-19. They are not for individuals without symptoms or anyone who wants to test for peace of mind. Neither can the tests be used to decide if employees can return to work following a stay home notice, for instance

The ParkwayHealth Laboratory, which comes under the Parkway Pantai medical company, said it has processed these tests for more than 33 clinics under the Parkway Shenton chain of GP clinics since late last month.

It has also received samples from 21 GP clinics approved by the Ministry of Health (MOH) for swab tests.

Eleven GP clinics under the Raffles Medical Group are also now able to conduct coronavirus swab tests, said its general manager Yong Yih Ming. The samples are sent to a lab designated by MOH, he added, without providing details.

Patients who get the swab test done at the clinics, including polyclinics, will typically be asked to return home to wait for the results.

This is because the samples need to be sent to a lab, which needs time to process them. It can take several hours to more than a day for the result to be out.

If the result is positive for coronavirus, the patient will be informed before an ambulance is dispatched to his home to transport him to the nearest public hospital.

The gold standard test is done at the laboratory using the real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique to detect virus genetic material in a patient's specimen.

In Singapore, the main lab that processes coronavirus tests is the National Public Health Laboratory at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

The ParkwayHealth Laboratory said it has processed more than 1,000 tests since March 3 after receiving MOH approval. It uses the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's Fortitude test kits for Covid-19, which were developed with Tan Tock Seng Hospital. These RT-PCR tests include those done for the GP clinics as well as those done for patients at Parkway hospitals and other private hospitals.

Apart from the suspected cases, tests are also done for recovering patients to check if they are still shedding the virus. They can be discharged only once they attain negative Covid-19 swab test results on two consecutive days.