SINGAPORE, Oct 5 — The Government will introduce a one-off additional support for newborns on top of the Baby Bonus Cash Gift, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said in Parliament today.

He did not elaborate, saying that Indranee Rajah, a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, will share more details on the additional support soon.

Eligible parents currently receive up to S$10,000 in benefits through the Baby Bonus Cash Gift, which is given out in five instalments over 18 months following the child’s birth.

Heng said that the move to offer extra help comes after the Government received feedback that Covid-19 has caused some aspiring parents to postpone their parenthood plans.

“This is fully understandable, especially when they face uncertainty with their income. Hence, to help with expenses during this period, we will introduce a one-off additional support for newborns,” he said.

Fighting Covid-19

Heng said that even as Singapore is adapting to living with the pandemic, the Government has worked out the steps to further re-open the economy safely in the months ahead, by focusing on four key areas.

The first is vaccination, he said, adding that the Government is working “very actively” to secure early access to safe and effective vaccines, if and when they become available.

Singapore is an early supporter of the Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) Facility, said Heng, which accelerates the development and production of, and equitable access to potential Covid-19 vaccines.

Singapore is also pursuing the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines with a number of pharmaceutical companies and the Government is also supporting local efforts to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, and as well as building up vaccine manufacturing capacity.

The second area of focus, Heng said, is testing.

Singapore has increased its Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing capacity manifold, and is close to its target of being able to conduct 40,000 laboratory tests a day, he noted.

“We are also evaluating new testing technologies that are less invasive and can produce test results more quickly. This enhanced testing capability will help us safely resume more activities sooner,” he added.

The third focus area is tracing, as swift contact tracing and isolation of infected individuals are key to limiting the spread of the virus, said Heng.

Fourth is safe management.

“We must continue to adhere to safe management measures, and do our part to facilitate contact tracing. Keeping community infections low is the key to re-opening our economy safely,” he said.

Heng also noted that the ministerial task force handling Singapore’s response to Covid-19 will be releasing more details on the roadmap to Phase 3 in the coming weeks, which will include the expected timeline for moving to Phase 3 and changes to current regulations. — TODAY