The Air Travel Bubbles (ATB) will play a key role in the safe opening of Singapore s borders this year, said Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung during the Committee of Supply (COS) debates on Friday (March 5).
According to Ong, he expects to see more countries prepared to forge ATBs with Singapore, as vaccinations bring down Covid-19 infection rates worldwide.
Recovery for the aviation sector
According to Ong, it is not realistic to expect a V-shape recovery for the aviation sector this year given that there continues to be much uncertainty due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We may have a plan, but this virus has no plan. And it does not observe any rules. It is driven by an instinct to dominate the world. To do so, it is transmitted without symptoms, it is mutating, said Ong.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced during the Committee of Supply (COS) debates in Parliament on Friday (Mar. 5) that the ministry will be taking steps to invest in building a future-ready healthcare workforce.
One of these steps is to increase the salaries of staff working in the public healthcare sector and in publicly-funded community care organisations.
Base salary increase by 3% to 14% for public healthcare sector
The monthly base salaries of nurses, allied health professionals (AHPs), pharmacists, and administrative and ancillary staff will be raised starting from July 2021, Senior Minister of State for Health Koh Poh Koon announced on Friday.
MOH highlighted in a media briefing that the salary adjustments are not to recognise the healthcare workers efforts in fighting Covid-19, as those have been recognised many times.
As the country continues to navigate out of the pandemic, longer-term healthcare issues, such as providing more accessible, affordable and better care, as well as stretching the health dollar, will remain key.
For instance, primary care will be strengthened, with 12 new polyclinics built, bringing the total number of polyclinics to 32 by 2030.
To make healthcare more accessible to seniors, community nursing teams have been expanded to cover 29 regions across the island since September 2020, with a total of 185 community nursing posts.
The Government has also been spending more on healthcare given the country s ageing population, Mr Gan said.
Its share of national health expenditure increased from 40 per cent in 2013 to 46 per cent in 2018.