SUSTAINING THE FORCE

The SAF servicemen and servicewomen manning HSTF's seven fully operationalised contact tracing centres and a centralised activity mapping centre were new to their tasks but everyone pressed on. Every day, HSTF officers spent long hours making calls, often having to deal with angry people. The pressure grew for more manpower to sustain the task force.

While HSTF tried to reduce the need for manpower by continually streamlining the operational processes, it recognised that it was equally important to reorganise structures so that operations would be more efficient. But the process to review some technical aspects of the operations was often protracted. Most stakeholders did not have much appetite for change, so changes had to be introduced gradually to gain buy-in. Sometimes, many revisions and iterations were needed before the business processes and operations could be enhanced. There were also agencies which quickly dismissed HSTF's ideas because they did not have enough resources to support the changes. HSTF had to learn how to package proposals and secure the necessary resources, and it had to learn fast. It did not want any needed change in structure or process to be bogged down by insufficient resources.

There had been a measure of success by MOH and HSTF in curbing the transmission of COVID-19, but the fight was far from over. Singapore's social fabric, economic progress, and the people's spirit would be put to more painful tests. And the SAF would have to continue to play its part in the national “war” against COVID-19.