Yesterday (18 Sep), Singapore’s COVID-19 cases surpassed the 1,000th mark, a scary but expected number of infections for us.
However, that also means the Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments are fully packed.
Since Singapore is in the transition to endemic living with COVID-19, certain things are going to be different.
Such as, recovering from COVID-19 in the comforts of your own home: kind of like chickenpox.
Ong Ye Kung Encourages Younger, Fully Vaccinated COVID-19 Patients to Recover from Home
With the surge of patients in certain hospitals, the Ministry of Health (MOH), is asking people to recover at home and avoid seeking treatment at hospitals to preserve hospital capacity for more serious and urgent cases.
They assure the public that the General Practitioner (GP) at Swab and Send Home (SASH) clinic is more than capable of assessing their symptoms.
As of yesterday (18 Sep), about a third of the community cases were placed on home recovery. Of these patients, there were children between the age of five to 11 years old as well.
In a Facebook post earlier today (19 Sep), Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, shared data from MOH. It shows that the severeness of one’s COVID-19 infection is depended on their age and vaccination status.
Although it was not captured in the table, another factor that affects one’s illness is their underlying condition.
The statistics proved the importance of vaccination and how it reduced the severity of the illness. From 1 May to 16 Sep, none of the full vaccinated patients that were below the age of 70 was admitted to the ICU or passed away from COVID-19.
Similarly, the data proved that patients in their 70s and above who were fully vaccinated have a lower risk of getting seriously ill.
98% of those that were infected in this time period were asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. These patients tend to be this way until recovery.
This leads to the encouragement of fully vaccinated individuals who are 70 years old and below to recover at home.
Some patients will also be admitted to community care facilities like Sentosa Village Hotel instead of hospitals. More community care facilities will also be ready this coming week.
If you still don’t understand why are COVID-19 patients asked to recover at home or in a hotel room, let me make this clearer to you:
Hospitals are Overwhelmed
Singapore General Hospital posted on their Facebook page, stating that priority would be given to the critically ill. Waiting time will also increase and each patient is only allowed one other companion.
They also asked patients with mild conditions to seek medical attention at a polyclinic or GP instead.
National University Hospital also published a similar post, giving the public a choice to visit Alexandra Hospital’s urgent care instead.
Now that we are finally on the same page, read this article to understand how you can start your home recovery if you suay suay kana COVID-19. *touch wood*
You can also understand the importance of vaccination here:
Read Also:
- TikTokers Are Allegedly Stealing Public Property in S’pore for the ‘Devious Lick’ Challenge
- 1,009 COVID-19 Cases Reported on 18 Sep Includes S’pore 60th COVID-19 Death: an Unvaccinated 90YO Man
Featured Image: Facebook (Ong Ye Kung); Image: Shine Nucha/shutterstock.com
