Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing agrees that the supply of surgical mask in Singapore will not be enough if everyone in the country starts using it.

While speaking at a meeting with local business leaders organised by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) last week, Mr Chan pointed out that “surgical mask is not the solution” when comes to dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak, and that no amount of masks will be adequate if all people in Singapore use it.

Citing the situation in Hong Kong as an example, Mr Chan said that Singapore will soon be in a difficult time like Hong Kong where there is a lack of mask supply for medical staff.

Earlier this month, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carried Lam revealed that the government’s internal reserve of surgical masks was reduced to just one month’s supply following the deadly coronavirus outbreak, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. She was also seen last month adorning a mask while speaking at a press conference, despite a worrying shortage of masks in the country.

Commenting on this, Mr Chan said that if Singapore has done like what Hong Kong did where politicians appear at events wearing masks, then the country’s hospital system would have been broken.

This is because it will lead to panic among people, which will result to severe shortage of masks for medical workers, he explained.

“We won’t have any surgical mask for out medical staff because everyone has used it up, like tissue paper,” he said.

He added, “If every Singaporean uses a surgical mask, one day we will burn five million masks, if not more. Since we don’t know how long we got to fight this war and the supply line has [been] cut already, [we must] conserve the surgical mask to make sure our medical system can still work.”

Took a gamble

In order to calm the nerves of worried citizens, Mr Chan said that he took a gamble and decided to distribute four masks each to all 1.37 million households in Singapore. These masks, he noted, should only be used by those who are not feeling well or need to go to the hospital.

However, he pointed out that in order to distribute these free masks to the people, he had to lose another 5 million from the government’s “limited stock count”.

Given the shortage, Mr Chan said his priority is to supply as many masks to medical staff first. He added that if mask is proven to be effective in hindering the spread of the deadly coronavirus, then the next group of people who he would supply the masks with are frontline workers like drivers and service staff.

As such, he said that he has to distribute the masks like he’s working in a “military operation”, where he needs to think properly “when to give mask to which group of people, tier by tier”.

How long must we fight the virus?

Despite hearing the concerns of bus and taxi drivers over the spreading of COVID-19, Mr Chan said that he is “thinking very hard now” if he should distribute surgical masks to them. This is because he said that he can issue them haze masks now as a “security blanket”.

His biggest concern right now is to know how long must Singapore be in this fight to curb the deadly virus.

“My number one thing in my mind right now is exactly what Mr Lee said. I don’t know how long we must fight this and I must prepare for the day where I must fight this for at least six months,” Mr Chan said.

Last Friday (14 February), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the latest COVID-19 outbreak is expected to last much longer than the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, which took four months to be completely eradicated from Singapore.

“SARS took us from March when we had our first cases, until July before we were declared clear and that was, I think very fast. I expect it not to be so fast this time,” PM Lee said to the media after meeting a number of frontline staff at Changi Airport.

At the meeting, Mr Chan also voiced out about how social media is becoming a serious problem as people tend to compare what’s happening in Singapore with other countries. He noted that no one talks about other problems that is taking place at different countries, like the situation where Hong Kong is running low in supply for surgical masks.

As such, he said that people prefer to choose a certain issue and only compare it with what’s happening in Singapore on social media.

“So these are the real unknowns that we have to deal with,” Mr Chan highlighted.

Govt previously said wear mask only when unwell

On 30 January this year, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong revealed at a news conference that Singaporeans should refrain from hoarding masks and only wear them if they are unwell and need to see a doctor.

Those who are well, do not need to don a mask and would be better protected by washing hands with soap and water regularly, the 4G leaders said at the conference.

Minister Wong said this after more than five million masks released to retailers “snapped up in hours” each time a batch of these were put up for sale over the past nine days.

He said that this had happened despite retailers limiting sales to one box per customer. “The current rate of consumption of masks in Singapore is not sustainable… especially with the global shortage and the likely export bans,” he said.

Echoing the same point, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also pointed out in a Facebook post on Thursday evening, where he highlighted the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) advice to only need to wear a mask if we are sick.

“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and do more if necessary. Meanwhile, we should all remain calm. All of us can do our part to limit transmission of germs by practicing good hygiene,” he said.

He continued, “Was your hands regularly, and seek medical active early and wear a mask if you feel unwell. But in general, there is no need to wear a mask if you are not ill.”

COVID-19 in Singapore

The deadly COVID-19, first surfaced in the city of Wuhan, and has spread to over 28 countries, including Singapore. To date, the virus has claimed the lives of more than 1,700 people, mainly in China, and infected at least 70,4000 individuals globally.

The number of infections has exceeded the total reported cases during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003.

On Sunday (16 February), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed three more additional cases of COVID-19 in the Republic, bringing the total number 75. This is the highest number recorded outside of China. (excluding Japan’s cases on the cruise ship)

Since 7 February, Singapore has also raised its disease outbreak response level to orange, one step below red.

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

Ong Ye Kung: Singapore aims to become COVID-19 vaccine distribution hub in the region

Singapore expresses desire to become a distribution and transportation hub for the…

New Southbound Lornie Highway highway to open on 28 October

Land Transport Authority (LTA) has announced that the southbound section of the…

Karang guni men – are they a nuisance?

What do you think of karang guni men using horns, blaring away incessantly. Are they a nuisance? Should their use of horns be banned?

年轻人投80履历工作仍没着落! 惟一些雇主称“找不到合适本地人才”

疫情下对本地就业市场带来冲击,从今年初至今,政府已出台了多达五次的财政援助措施,以期能协助企业和雇员度过疫情下的难关。 副总理王瑞杰等领袖,甚至预料未来数月会有更多人失业,然而这也让更多人开始质问,政府对于保障本地人就业的努力。 对于青年毕业生来说,当前刚毕业要觅职亦面对困难,甚至有年轻国人即使投了数十份履历,还是没能找到合适的全职工作!结果只好去兼职和学习新技能来度过当前危机。 据《今日报》报导,一名27岁受访者Hakim Wijaya,有两三年工作经验,再进入入拉萨尔艺术学院修读大学文凭毕业。然而,过去四个月,她应征多达80职位空缺,有回应只有寥寥数家,且条件也不尽人意。 还有26岁的大学毕业生Roy Ng也同样提交80份工作申请,还是找不到工作,结果打算再就读与商业相关的研究生课程,自我提升。还有者只得接受减薪保住工作。 还有更多类似的故事,例如26岁的准妈妈以为自己能保住饭碗,结果仍被公司裁员;再有原数码设计总监今年2月份被解雇,结果只能骑脚踏车送餐,收入从原本的8千多元,锐减至目前仅2千多元。 然而, 讽刺的是,一些雇主却认为,他们无法在新加坡找不到合适本地人才,例如本地金属包装制造厂Containers Printers总裁曾爱媄声称,虽曾考虑聘请新加坡人,但该公司工作需要一定的技术,聘请新人要花时间培训,所以人手不能说换就换。 一名建筑业者也表示,要找人替代自己公司的马国籍安全协调员不容易,安全管理人员需经过培训和考取证书,不是两三天的事,更何况目前都很少有这种能考取证书的课程在开班。…