MOH Says Covid-19 Patients Have To Undergo Tests Before Being Discharged, Are Not A Threat To Society
In light of news that a Japanese woman was reinfected with Covid-19 after being discharged from a hospital, this has raised many eyebrows concerning the recovery of patients.
However, in Singapore, there may be nothing to worry about.
Ministry of Health (MOH) said recovered Covid-19 patients are not a threat to others here, according to Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
This is due to strict discharge procedures put in place to ensure that patients no longer carry the virus.
Recovered patients are not a threat, have to undergo many tests
MOH’s Director of Medical Services Prof Kenneth Mak said that recovered Covid-19 patients have to undergo a series of tests before getting the green light for discharge.
Due to this strict procedure at hospitals or the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), he said Singaporeans do not have to worry about them transmitting the disease.
Similar with China, patients in Singapore have to go through consecutive Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests to check for any traces of the virus.
A PCR test is used to detect the presence of a viral generic material in a person’s biological sample, according to CNA.
These PCR tests are sampled via sputum samples, as well as nasal or throat swabs. Sampling styles vary according to the symptoms that a patient has.
One test include using breast milk as a sample
In one of the tests, Prof Mak said that they even tested a patient’s breast milk to check for the virus.
He states that this was done to ensure that the patient, who is a mother, did not have any virus shedding in any of her body fluids.
Discharge patients asked to stay home
Prof Mak says discharged patients are still advised to stay at home and avoid crowds.
This is because he doesn’t want them to run the risk of being infected by other viruses, while their bodies are still recovering.
He added that MOH has a process to call discharged patients back for further screening if necessary. This process is done to assure themselves and the public that they are virus-free.
A good number of discharged patients
With the number of discharged patients increasing daily, we now have a total of 69 discharged patients. Of the 29 confirmed cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving, with 7 in critical condition.
Let us hope that the remaining patients can make a swift recovery so that we’re one step closer to being a nation that’s free of Covid-19.
Featured image adapted from Yahoo Singapore.
