Coronavirus Singapore
US V-P to do Covid-19 testing, stick to controlled itinerary on S'pore visit
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Justin Ong
United States Vice-President Kamala Harris will be subject to regular Covid-19 testing and will have a controlled itinerary to keep her upcoming visit to Singapore safe, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung yesterday.
Ms Harris is slated to arrive in Singapore on Sunday before heading to Vietnam next Tuesday.
During a press conference yesterday, reporters asked Singapore's multi-ministry task force handling Covid-19 what the pandemic protocols for Ms Harris and her delegation would be.
Mr Ong said that the 56-year-old Vice-President - who is making her first trip outside the Americas since being sworn into office in January - and her team would undergo frequent testing and be restricted to an itinerary of safer areas.
He said their itinerary would be "restricted to areas that are safer, where the delegation will not come into contact with, for example, many seniors, such as (at) a home".
He also said Singapore was honoured that Ms Harris was making the Republic her first stop in her first trip to Asia.
Ms Harris' visit comes on the heels of US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin's trip to Singapore and the region late last month.
Mr Ong noted that this would not be the first visit to Singapore by a foreign dignitary during the pandemic, and said that these dignitaries were subject to "similar healthcare protocols".
He added that it would not be practical to subject them to stay-home notice (SHN) requirements.
"Instead, as a principle, we know that we can always replace SHN with tests. Technically, if you test every day, so long as it's negative every day, you know that it's safe for the person to move around," he said.
"We can't do that for the entire population, and therefore SHN and quarantine are often the other ways for us to implement a nationwide healthcare measure."
Ms Harris, who is the first woman and first person of colour to hold the second-highest office in the US, is expected to meet Singapore leaders and discuss ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in multiple areas.
Covid-19, climate change, the digital economy and security will be top of the agenda, said Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan earlier this week.
