S$90m Given to DSO Biosafety Labs for Upgrading to Protect Greater Protection Against Stronger Threats

As we’ve heard again and again, getting over COVID-19 doesn’t mean life will return to normal.

After all, there are tons of threats out there, including the fabled Disease X.

Which is why more funding has been channelled to the DSO Biosafety Labs.

S$90m Given to DSO Biosafety Labs for Upgrading to Protect Greater Protection Against Stronger Threats

On 1 Mar 2021, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said that S$90 million will be given to the DSO biosafety labs to prepare for greater threats.

The money will be used to upgrade the laboratories to the highest biosafety grade possible, BSL-4.

One of the lessons learnt from COVID-19, Mr Ng says, is the need to plan long-term and invest in new capabilities.

In other words, to be prepared at all times.

Mindef and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are prime examples of that mentality, he said.

Due to the steady spending on defence over the past two decades, DSO managed to get polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests up and running in Jan 2020, the same month COVID-19 cases started appearing here.

In addition, he pointed out that while the SAF had continued to operate, only a “small number of COVID-19 cases” has cropped up.

There were also no clusters detected within the military.

Learning From History

All of these, he said, wouldn’t be possible if Singapore had not learnt from SARS back in 2003 and other lethal chemical and biological incidents over years.

If we had not learned from our lesson, the DSO labs wouldn’t have been able to mount a proper defence against COVID-19 when it reached Singapore.

BSL-4

While Singapore already has BSL-3 labs, which were proven to be sufficient before COVID-19, the pandemic has convinced Singapore to move on to the next level.

BSL-4 labs offer higher protection, including a high level of air separation and the ability to be shut down and isolated quickly.

Overseas experts will also be brought in to advise on the process, all the way from designing and building to verification.

The upgrading works at the DSO labs are expected to be complete by 2025.

Some features of the new enclosed facility include:

• Using heat to sterilise solid waste before incineration
• Multiple airlocks and negative pressure in the lab to control the airflow direction
• Air corridor around the lab
• Safe shutdown capabilities to maintain neutral measure so no air will escape from the facility if there is a mechanical failure

What It’ll Be Used For

According to the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), the laboratory will be used to cultivate and study both “new emerging infectious disease pathogens” and “known high-risk pathogens”.

These will then be used to develop diagnostics and countermeasures.

“Can we plan on the basis that future pandemics or biological attacks will not be worse than Covid-19? Or can we ‘outsource’ to or call another country for help when it happens? I think members of this house can unanimously say, surely not.”

According to Mr Ng, it would be “foolish” to depend on others, and that Singapore should build up capabilities to protect itself.

Feature Image: DSO National Laboratories