Pandemic Care Facilities and Crisis Response Group to Become Permanent, New Communicable Diseases Agency Announced

SINGAPORE – The transitional care facilities (TCFs), originally established during the Covid-19 pandemic to relieve hospitals of lower-risk patients, will become a permanent feature of Singapore’s healthcare system, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung announced in Parliament on Mar. 21, 2023. These facilities will serve medically stable patients awaiting long-term care arrangements, such as home or nursing care.

A new TCF near Ng Teng Fong General Hospital is planned to meet growing demands, adding to the existing 500 beds set up during the pandemic. This move is part of a broader initiative to boost hospital capacity, as bed occupancy in public hospitals has risen significantly since the pandemic.

In addition to these care facilities, a new Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) will be established. The CDA will oversee disease preparedness, prevention, control, and outbreak response, consolidating roles currently spread across the Ministry of Health (MOH), the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), and the Health Promotion Board. The National Public Health Laboratory will also fall under the CDA’s oversight.

To ensure continued pandemic readiness, MOH will maintain the Crisis Strategy and Operations Group (CSOG), which played a key role during Covid-19. The CSOG will be prepared to manage mid-sized outbreaks and other health emergencies, as well as contribute to the Healthier SG initiative during peacetime.

Other updates include amendments to the Infectious Diseases Act, allowing for the declaration of public health emergencies, and efforts to secure early access to vaccines for future pandemics. Singapore will retain a stockpile of vaccines and keep a network of vaccination centres to ensure quick rollout in case of new virus variants.

Ong emphasized the importance of these steps to ensure that Singapore is better prepared for future health crises, while highlighting the government’s careful judgment calls during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly around reopening the country after achieving high population immunity.