Health
Singapore MOH urges public not to hoard ART kits amid surge in COVID infections
Singapore Health Ministry assures ample COVID-19 test kit supply amidst rising cases. Retailers restock; public urged against hoarding as demand surges.
SINGAPORE – As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Singapore, the Ministry of Health (MOH) assured the public on Monday (11 Dec) that retailers and pharmacies have sufficient supplies of COVID-19 antigen rapid test (ART) kits.
The announcement comes in response to a surge in demand for these kits as the country grapples with increasing coronavirus infections.
According to the MOH, checks conducted by the ministry have indicated that retailers and retail pharmacies are well-stocked with ART kits and are actively restocking their stores to meet the growing demand.
In a statement addressing media queries, the ministry emphasized that additional orders have been placed to ensure an ongoing supply of ART kits to cater to the rising demand.
The MOH disclosed that it maintains a strategic stockpile of ART kits and stands ready to release it to support retailers if the need arises. However, the ministry urged the public to purchase ART kits in quantities that are only sufficient for their immediate needs and discouraged hoarding of supplies.
A spokesperson for health and beauty retailer Guardian revealed to Channel News Asia that the sale of masks and ART kits had witnessed a significant surge, increasing by 50 per cent over the past fortnight.
Additionally, there has been a notable uptick in the demand for cold and flu medication. Guardian assured customers that it is working closely with suppliers to ensure that its stores remain adequately stocked with essential items such as masks, ART kits, and remedies for fever, cough, and cold.
The alarming surge in COVID-19 cases has been evident in the statistics, with the estimated number of cases in the week of 26 November to 2 December soaring to 32,035, compared to 22,094 cases in the previous week.
This spike has also led to an increase in average daily hospitalizations and ICU admissions. The MOH, recognizing the strain on hospitals, stated on 8 Dec that it is closely monitoring the additional workload to ensure that healthcare capacity can cope with the rising numbers.
Despite the surge, the MOH provided reassurance that there is currently no indication that the variants circulating locally are more transmissible or cause more severe disease.
The ministry emphasized that the fifth and most recent exercise of the national distribution of ART kits, conducted from 17 Jul to 30 Sep, saw each household in Singapore receiving six ART kits drawn from the national stockpile.
This stockpile was said to have been created as a proactive measure to mitigate supply chain disruptions and sudden surges in usage.
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I have never purchased any test kit. MOH sent me boxes (3 times?) of test kits and I gave one of the delivery to the foreign worker around my place. I have thrown away the rest that have expired. It’s all tax payers money! What wastage! Please make the test kits be collectable at CC or wherever. This pLandemic is a sick waste of resources only to enrich the test kit, masks and pharma and how many of these are even in Singapore employing Singaporeans??
Rather than lament hoarding of the ART kits, MOH in conjunction with Temasek should issue masks and ART kits.
I have noticed more people wearing masks especially on public transport. At the moment, a circuit breaker is not required but an advisory to wear masks can be sent out.
What good will testing using the ART do…??
Just to determine positive..??
And so what if it is…??
No cure
No beds in hospital
Treatment has not changed.
Rest, reduce fever, rest
Take cough medication to relieve
Take cold medication for runny nose
wear mask.
There… free instructions.
Stupid singaporeans
Stupid voters voting PAP to allow them to fuck them
MOH better check who are the ones buying so much test kits.
Last time during covid-19 tsunami, many foreigners here in Singapore bought masks, panadols, cough medicine, cold medicine in huge volumes and packed them into containers, to send back to their home countries.
Some pharmacy staff also reserved many for themselves.
Some retailers hid their stocks and wait until the time is ripe, they push all stocks out and selling at high prices…lol.
These “monkeys”are again climbing up the wrong “trees” What has the hoarding of ART kits to do with preventing the further spread of Covic in our homeland.These monkeys should instead implement the necessary measures to guard our borders against the impending invasions of the new variants from abroad including Communist China.
Waiting for Sia Suay Chan to reassure us that there are sufficient ART kits, facemasks, cotton produced from sheep, durians dropping from trees, etc.
Politicians CASTIGATE Gabriel Oon a qualified doctor in HIS OWN RIGHT.
What DOES this speaks about Millionaires Scums?
Politicians Hijack the States initiative to become doctors.
Good luck Sheegapore.
Foreign Trash Rules Sheegapore – in the name of searching for talents – when a Hegemonic Regime FALL FAR SHORT of treating own people well and good.
They TOLD LIES about Mask Sufficiency WHEN it was the exact opposite.
Really or not….surge in demand for ART kit? Why would one wants to test for an infection that has no medication to cure and is not deadly (in the first place)? If need to take care of the symptoms then Panadol will do. With the virus having mutated a number of times, ART kit still can be used? Then it must be a one that can also detect AIDS. ‘There is no indication of the virus is more transmissible’? Then what does the more than 32k infections indicate? Why MOH not telling people to stay indoor, WFH, must wear mask… Read more »
You don’t eradicate a nation’s dna, … just because it’s a statement cum directive from the “cheng hu” !!!
And what’s that dna one rightly enquires. In this instance it’s a duo of “kiasi”, … assisted and abetted by “kiasu” !!!
Panadol will be the next “must buy”, … on everyone’s daily “to do” list !!!
Just stop senselessly mass importing hundreds of thousands aliens into tiny SG in a short span of few years then our already overstretched infrastructures will not be in acute situation like now.
Acute hospital beds, acute polyclinic appointment slots, acute shortage of medical staffs, acute shortage of public bus drivers, acute shortage of public housings and even private housings, acute shortage of COE leading to multifold price increases over the years….etc
General statement with no supporting fact. Just blaming public for something fabricated. If they are factual., they will publish the details like which area indicate an abuse of ART horading ….