S'pore sending coronavirus test kits, screening machines to China: Heng
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A laboratory technician in Wuhan working on samples to be tested for the coronavirus on Thursday. Singapore is sending test kits that can conduct 10,000 tests as well as three polymerase chain reaction machines that screen people for the coronavirus to China.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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Singapore is sending test kits that can conduct 10,000 tests as well as three polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines that screen people for the coronavirus to China, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said yesterday.
The Republic's experts will also be exchanging views with their counterparts in China, he added in a Facebook post.
He said it is important for both countries - which have a longstanding special relationship - to work together to fight the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan as it is a global public health challenge.
Singapore will continue to work closely with China and the international community to fight the coronavirus, including preventing its further spread and developing better medical testing.
The three machines Singapore is sending to China are for PCR, which is used in molecular biology to make several copies of a specific DNA segment.
More help is on the way.
"We will be providing another 10,000 tests in the next couple of weeks," Mr Heng said.
In his post, he wrote that he had spoken to Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng earlier yesterday to convey his condolences and sympathies to families who lost their loved ones in the outbreak.
Earlier this week, the Singapore Red Cross, together with trade associations and chambers, companies and local community organisations, launched a public appeal to raise funds for humanitarian assistance to affected communities in China.
The Government will also provide $1 million in seed funding to groups helping these communities.
Mr Heng added that infectious diseases are transboundary in nature, and countries can overcome this challenge only by stepping up measures within each country, and by collaborating with one another.
Yesterday, Singapore moved up its response to the coronavirus outbreak to code orange due to heightened risk. There are now four cases of infection with no known links to China or people already infected, which means the disease may be spreading in the community.
"Singapore will continue to do our part - enhancing our safeguards as the situation evolves, and working with China and the international community to combat this outbreak," he said.
"I am confident we can overcome this challenge together."
