Younger Vaccinated Covid-19 Patients Should Recover At Home To Avoid Straining Hospitals: Ong Ye Kung 

Ong Ye Kung Encourages Vaccinated Patients To Recover At Home

Yesterday (18 Sep), Singapore’s daily cases crossed the 1,000 mark, recording 1,004 local cases.

On Sunday (19 Sep), Health Minister Ong Ye Kung shared a Facebook post showing a correlation between Covid-19 patients coming down with severe illness with age and vaccination status.

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He explained that this is why younger, fully vaccinated patients are encouraged to recover at home.

Even though intensive care unit (ICU) beds are available, A&E departments are being strained due to the number of cases.

This way, we can better prevent hospitals from becoming overburdened.

Chances of severe illness dependent on age & vaccine status

On Sunday (19 Aug), Minister Ong shared Ministry of Health (MOH) data showing that the chance of someone infected with Covid-19 contracting severe illness is highly dependent on age and vaccination status.

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From 1 May to 16 Sep, nobody fully vaccinated and under the age of 70 was admitted to the ICU or died from Covid-19.

A fully vaccinated person in their 70s has a lower chance of getting severe illness than an unvaccinated person in their 30s.

Minister Ong also brought up that over 15% of infected and unvaccinated elderly above 80 contracted severe illnesses.

Younger, fully vaccinated patients should recover at home

Minister Ong says there is “no doubt” that if Singaporeans had not gotten vaccinated in such large numbers, our healthcare system would now be overwhelmed.

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Thanks to vaccinations, over 98% of those infected have no or mild symptoms. They also tend to stay that way until they recover.

This, said Minister Ong, is the reason authorities are encouraging younger, fully vaccinated people to recover at home.

It is also why they are admitting patients to community care facilities instead of hospitals.

MOH is also preparing more community care facilities which will be ready by the coming week.

By doing this, hospital beds, and A&E services can be given to those who need it most.

A&E and general wards now under pressure

In his Facebook post, Minister Ong said Singapore’s ICU capacity is still holding up.

However, our A&E and general wards are now “under pressure”.

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Minister Ong warned that our hospitals and healthcare workers cannot be overburdened.

This is MOH’s biggest challenge and they are doing their best to solve this.

Yesterday, MOH said public hospitals have been experiencing a surge in patients rushing to A&E departments with mild acute respiratory infection symptoms.

Singapore General Hospital (SGH), National University Hospital (NUH), and Tan Tock Seng Hospital have all put out Facebook posts with similar messages, saying they have been seeing a high number of patients at their A&E departments.

They urged those with mild symptoms to avoid seeking treatment at hospitals.

Instead, they asked that they consult a General Practioner (GP) at a Swab and Send Home (SASH) clinic.

Everyone’s cooperation needed

Kudos to MOH for always planning ahead, making sure we have ample resources to care for patients.

Singapore has been coping well with the demands of infected Covid-19 patients thus far.

However, as cases surge, it’ll take everyone’s cooperation to ensure those who need hospital care the most get it.

If you are younger, fully vaccinated, and only have mild symptoms, resting at home should be okay.

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Featured image adapted from Tan Tock Seng Hospital on Facebook.