Singapore is experiencing yet another surge in Covid-19 cases.
With this, more patients are visiting hospital emergency departments (EDs), resulting in long queues and waiting times.
On Sunday (6 Feb), the Ministry of Health (MOH) urges the public to only go to EDs if necessary.
For non-emergencies, patients should visit General Practitioners (GPs) or a 24-hour clinic instead.
On Sunday (6 Feb), MOH shared that Singapore hospitals are seeing a high number of patients at their EDs. This has led to long queues and waiting times.
In actual fact, many of these patients do not need emergency care.
MOH says that such unnecessary visits compromise the standard of care of those who actually need emergency care.
Similarly, the Children’s Emergency (CE) departments at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and National University Hospital have also seen a surge in patients.
In the past week, both CE departments saw an average of more than 650 cases a day. This is up from the 450 cases average per day in early January.
Of these cases, including those with Covid-19, about 80% suffered from mild symptoms. They did not require hospitalisation and were discharged after their visits.
Amongst those admitted, most were only hospitalised for 2 to 3 days.
MOH elaborated that the proportion of children with severe Covid-19 infections and Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome remains low at 1 out of 1,000 pediatric cases.
MOH advises the public to seek medical treatment at EDs only for serious or life-threatening emergencies like chest pain, breathlessness, and uncontrollable bleeding.
This allows those in need of emergency care to be attended to faster.
It will also help preserve our hospital capacity for those who really need it.
MOH urges those with non-severe illnesses, including children, to visit GPs or 24-hour clinics instead.
If there is a need to test for Covid-19 or review for acute respiratory infection symptoms, patients can also visit Public Health Preparedness Clinics (PHPC).
More than 700 PHPCs are open after office hours on selected days. The public can find their nearest PHPCs and their opening hours here.
Besides that, there are also 6 paediatric swab centres where children aged 6 and below can get tested at.
A crucial part of our nation’s fight against Covid-19 is to ensure our healthcare resources are well organised and divided.
As cases surge, it’s important to remember that there’s no need to panic and visit EDs. Our GPs and PHPCs are well-equipped to handle non-severe cases.
Hopefully, with everyone’s cooperation, all patients will get the medical care they require without putting a strain on hospitals.
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Featured image adapted from Tan Tock Seng Hospital on Facebook.
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