COVID: Singapore public healthcare workers to get up to $4,000 – Ong Ye Kung

SINGAPORE — Public healthcare workers in Singapore will receive a cash award of up to $4,000 for their contributions to the fight against COVID-19, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Friday (5 November).

The announcement, made at the National Medical Excellence Awards (NMEA) ceremony, will see some 100,000 workers from eligible publicly-funded healthcare organisations receive the COVID-19 Healthcare Award.

They include those working under the National Healthcare Group, National University Health System, and SingHealth.

The award will also be extended to publicly-funded community care organisations that provide healthcare services, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a media release.

These include community hospitals that take in COVID-19 patients as well as nursing homes and dialysis centres "that have expanded their capacity and worked tirelessly to keep vulnerable elderly in need of nursing care out of hospitals and free up hospital beds", MOH added.

"(The award) serves as a recognition of the contribution and dedication of healthcare staff throughout this fight," said MOH, adding that they have been under significant strain after over 20 months of fighting the pandemic.

A grant of $10,000 will also be extended to public health preparedness clinics (PHPC) each for their efforts in the fight against the disease.

The award will be given to eligible workers of the public healthcare institutions in December. The PHPCs and workers of the community care organisations will be awarded in the first quarter of next year.

“While riding the transmission wave is a necessary process to living with COVID-19, the high number of cases has resulted in strong demand for healthcare services and very high workload in the public hospitals, including the intensive care units and emergency departments," said MOH.

"As various sectors begin to resume their full operations and with society progressively restarting more activities, the healthcare sector continues to face intense pressure as the last line of defence."

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