Singapore is exploring the use of a variety of different tests for the coronavirus, the multi-ministry Covid-19 task force said at a media conference yesterday.

While the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test has been the primary type used here, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong said that such tests can be difficult to conduct.

"It takes time, it is complex, you need a lab, you need to run it through the lab," he said, noting that faster tests, such as point-of-care test kits, are being developed.

These are tests that can be conducted at the point where a patient receives medical care, such as a clinic, and do not require specimens to be sent to laboratories.

The authorities have been exploring the use of such kits in assessing whether patients have fully recovered and can return to work.

Also on the radar are rapid antigen tests - speedy diagnostic tests which detect certain molecules known as antigens - and antibody tests such as serology tests, which detect the presence of antibodies in a patient.

Serological testing was previously used here to find the "missing link" between the Grace Assembly of God and Life Church and Missions Singapore infection clusters.

Mr Wong said of the variety of tests: "We will examine all of these technologies as they come to the market, and then we will look at expanding the full suite of testing capabilities."

He added that there are also innovative ways to approach existing test methods such as the PCR test.

One such method, known as "pool testing", involves using one test for a batch of suspect cases rather than just one person. This multiplies the number of tests that one can administer in a day, said Mr Wong.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, who co-chairs the task force with Mr Wong, said there is a "strategic logic" to who is tested and the methods that are used.