Infectious Diseases Act amended to deal with varying threat levels

It will also give minister powers to adopt relevant measures at different phases

- Zhaki Abdullah

Singapore will be able to mount different levels of responses to public health threats of varying severity, with changes to the Infectious Diseases Act (IDA) passed on March 7.

The need for this was a key takeaway from Covid-19 when the Government stepped up responses as the situation escalated and tapered down when the threat subsided, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung in Parliament.

The amendments also provide the health minister with powers to effect relevant measures at different phases of a pandemic.

Rather than catering to just peacetime or emergency, a new intermediate state called the Public Health Threat (PHT) has been introduced, in addition to the most dire Public Health Emergency (PHE).

The changes will take in some powers under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act that allowed for the implementation of safety measures such as the circuit breaker.

Mr Ong noted that a key recommendation of the White Paper on Singapore's Response to COVID-19, released in March 2023, was the need to review and amend the IDA.

Previously, it provided for only a PHE, which was not declared during the pandemic as it fell short of an emergency associated with a totally overwhelmed healthcare system.

The IDA will now enable the health minister to declare a PHT or PHE.