Temperature screening is an important tool in the fight against the coronavirus infection as it is effective in identifying people who are sick, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong told Parliament yesterday.

He was replying to Ms Rahayu Mahzam (Jurong GRC) who had asked how effective it was, "because some of the patients who have been discovered showed very mild symptoms. It also uses a lot of manpower and I'm really not sure if it is the best way".

Mr Gan said: "Temperature screening remains one of the very important parts of the measures that we put in place to prevent people who are ill from joining activities and participating in mass gatherings... Individually, it's also important for you to take (your) temperature regularly so that you know whether you're well, you're unwell."

Agreeing that there are infected people who present other symptoms before fever, Mr Gan said organisations that are doing the screening should also look out for people who do not appear to be well.

"If he doesn't look well, please advise him to go back and rest, rather than rely solely on temperature taking."

Mr Gan fielded several questions about the coronavirus outbreak yesterday, ranging from why general practitioners (GPs) cannot be given kits to test for the virus, to the risk posed by people returning from China.

Mr Yee Chia Hsing (Chua Chu Kang GRC) pointed out that several confirmed cases had seen more than one doctor before being taken to hospital.

Would it not be better if GPs were given testing kits so they can be sure, he asked.

Mr Gan replied: "Every day we have about 30,000 people down with flu-like symptoms like runny nose, cough and cold. So it is not possible to test all 30,000 of them."

Furthermore, not all GPs may be familiar with how to take swabs for the test, which "can be quite a hazardous process" that could expose the GP to unnecessary risk, should the person have the virus.

Such tests are better done at hospitals which have trained personnel and facilities for this.

This is also why the multi-ministry task force has recommended that people with such symptoms be given five days of medical leave - most people with the normal cold, for example, would recover in that time, said Mr Gan.

But those who do not, need not panic since there are some illnesses that take longer to recover from.

This is why they should return to the same doctor, who can then make a clinical judgment on whether the person may have the coronavirus.

He asked employers to allow staff who have been given a medical certificate (MC) for five days of medical leave to stay away from work.

"And if the doctor gives you an MC, stay at home throughout the MC period. Don't go around and don't go and queue up to buy toilet paper and so on."