Number of COVID-19 Tests Conducted and Expected Rate of Testing for Community Population

Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Health (a) what is the total number of COVID-19 tests conducted to date for the community population, ie excluding foreign workers living in dormitories; (b) what is the number of tests conducted per million persons for this community population to date; and (c) what is the Government's expected rate of testing for this community population going forward.

As of 1 June 2020, we have conducted over 408,000 tests1 for COVID-19, or 71,700 tests per million population.

Among these, over 202,000 tests were for the community population, which includes Singapore Citizens, Permanent Residents, and all long-term pass holders living in the community, but excluding migrant workers living in dormitories. This translates to more than 37,500 tests per million population in the community. These tests are used for community diagnostics, active case finding to prevent further transmissions, and surveillance testing, in particular for vulnerable populations such as our seniors in nursing homes and other residential care facilities.

We are ramping up our capacity to be able to conduct as many as 40,000 tests a day in the later part of the year. With this, we will continue to expand testing in the community to detect cases early and reduce the risk of large clusters from developing.