Covid-19 testing is being expanded, with unvaccinated individuals in more key sectors set to get regular tests so as to detect possible infections early.
This will apply to those working in malls and supermarkets, taxi and private-hire car drivers, last-mile delivery personnel, driving instructors and public transport front-line staff.
From Oct 1, they must be tested twice a week with antigen rapid tests (ARTs) under the Vaccinate or Regular Test regime, the Health Ministry said last night.
Teachers and school staff who have not had their shots will also have to undergo a similar regime, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said yesterday.
The list includes non-government employees with regular contact with students aged 12 and below, such as those working in tuition and enrichment centres.
They join a growing group of individuals who will be tested regularly, as the authorities spread the net wider to protect the vulnerable - particularly the elderly and children who have not been given the green light for vaccinations.
Covid-19 cases are on the wane here, with 45 locally transmitted cases announced yesterday, compared with more than 100 at the beginning of the month. Nonetheless, seven have died from virus complications this month alone, the latest being an 84-year-old yesterday. More than 115,000 seniors and about half a million children below the age of 12 remain at risk as they are not vaccinated.
It was announced last week that mandatory testing would apply to unvaccinated people in the healthcare and eldercare sectors, those working in higher-risk mask-off settings and people doing Covid-19 front-line work, among others.
Testing is part of a three-pronged containment approach, which also includes aggressive vaccination and contact tracing, as the country grapples with living with Covid-19 and its dominant Delta variant.
The twice-weekly testing regime applies to those who are not yet fully vaccinated, are unvaccinated or are medically ineligible for vaccination against Covid-19.
But testing is also mandatory for those in higher-risk settings, even if they have been vaccinated, including cleaners, canteen operators and physical education teachers who conduct mask-off activities.
The Education Ministry is moving towards a more sustainable and targeted approach to deal with school cases, with the aim of minimising disruptions.
This includes placing close contacts and students from the same class or co-curricular activity under leave of absence (LOA) or quarantine, instead of placing the entire level on home-based learning.
Mr Chan noted that 216 of 600,000 students here were infected from May to July. More than half of the cases were isolated through LOA or quarantine order before they tested positive, so no contact tracing was required in schools as they did not pose any risk to their schoolmates, he said.
Over the same period, more than 20,000 students across 50 schools were placed on home-based learning at different times and for varying time periods. None was Covid-19-positive, as all close contacts of confirmed cases had already been placed under LOA or quarantine, Mr Chan noted.
With more regular and faster testing using self-administered ARTs, students and staff who test negative can also return to school earlier.
The suite of measures will be further calibrated "as new scientific evidence emerges and we accumulate more experience", Mr Chan added. "Where necessary, we will tighten measures, balancing the considerations for risk management with the impact of the disruptions."
- Additional reporting by Isabelle Liew
