Hospital & Nursing Home Visits Suspended For 2 More Weeks Till 3 Apr
Earlier in January, the authorities suspended visits to hospitals and nursing homes amid a surge in Omicron cases. They later extended the suspension further till 20 Mar 2022.
S’pore Hospital & Nursing Home Visits Suspended Till 20 Feb, Critical Cases Exempted
On Friday (18 Mar), the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced yet another extension for an additional 2 weeks till 3 Apr 2022.
They stated that though Covid-19 cases appear to be falling, our hospitals continue to see a high volume of patients. The influx thus places significant stress on healthcare workers.
Hospital visits remain suspended due to high volume of patients
In a press release on Friday (18 Mar), MOH announced that in-person visits to hospital wards and residential care homes will be further suspended till 3 Apr.
MOH explained that even though Covid-19 cases in Singapore are trending downwards, hospitals are still seeing a “high volume of patients”.
Healthcare workers in Singapore also continue to be under “significant stress”.
In order to alleviate the pressure on hospital staff, as well as those caring for Covid-19 patients in nursing homes, the suspension of in-person visits will continue for another fortnight.
Visitors may be allowed in exceptional cases
However, MOH shared that hospitals and homes will have the discretion to allow visits for “exceptional cases”. These include:
- Patients in critical condition
- Paediatric patients
- Birthing/post-partum mothers
- Patients who require additional care support from caregivers
These visitors will still have to adhere to prevailing measures, such as ART requirements. The full list of measures can be found here.
To support patients and residents through the extended suspension, hospitals and nursing homes will continue to provide alternative communication methods, such as video or telephone calls.
MOH said it will also continue to review and calibrate the measures amid the fluid situation. They seek patients’ and residents’ understanding and cooperation during this time.
Covid-19 cases remain high despite recent dip
Even though daily Covid-19 cases have more than halved since the peak in late February, we’re still reporting 5-digit infection numbers every day.
Unsurprisingly, this means our hospitals are still under stress and things could still spiral out of control if we take matters lightly.
We hope affected residents will be understanding towards the extended suspension and that they will keep in touch with their loved ones through alternative forms of communication.
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Featured image by MS News.
