10 ART kits to be delivered to each household from today, Latest Singapore News - The New Paper
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10 ART kits to be delivered to each household from today

This article is more than 12 months old

From today, around 1,000 postmen will deliver 10 antigen rapid test (ART) kits to households islandwide.

This will benefit some 1.54 million households, the Ministry of Health (MOH) told The Straits Times, making it more convenient for the public to test themselves regularly at home.

The kits will be mailed out via SingPost.

This distribution exercise - which will last till Dec 7 - is the second of its kind and comes as Singapore recorded 3,994 Covid-19 infections on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, MOH said the surge in cases has placed significant pressure on public hospitals here, with 67 per cent of intensive care unit beds occupied.

As the Republic extends its Covid-19 restrictions until Nov 21, it will also step up testing efforts, with primary school pupils having to take an ART every two weeks until school closes for the holidays next month.

To equip the public with sufficient ART kits, SingPost told The Straits Times it has mobilised its postmen to work on Saturdays, on top of their five-day workweek.

SingPost said: "The Saturday shifts will be solely dedicated to delivering ART kits, compared with the weekday rounds where postmen deliver regular mail as well."

On weekdays, the national postal service will make up to 60,000 deliveries of ART kits on top of its regular mail deliveries. Each delivery will consist of two boxes of five ART kits.

Besides the kits, SingPost is also assisting with the delivery of grocery vouchers to 160,000 Singaporeans this month to support them with household expenses during the pandemic.

Ms Neo Su Yin, head of SingPost's domestic post and parcel business, said: "SingPost is honoured to do our part in the national fight against Covid-19.

"Despite having to make deliveries on several weekends, our teams recognise the importance of this national distribution and are proud to serve the country." - THE STRAITS TIMES

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