Some dormitory residents who test negative for Covid-19, but have other illnesses will be held at designated "dormitory isolation facilities (DIFs)" within the dormitory campuses, and at a centralised facility at the Home Team Academy (HTA).

These patients will be isolated in the DIFs for up to five days. This is intended to prevent the spread of other illnesses within dormitories, according to materials from the Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) technical briefing on Apr. 28.

Facilities on site at dormitories and at Home Team Academy

There are currently more than 2,600 beds prepared for this purpose, including more than 2,000 beds on-site at dormitories, as well as 500 beds at a centralised DIF at HTA.

The Police Officers Basic Course (POBC) at HTA has been suspended since Apr. 7 in light of circuit breaker measures.

Postive cases hospitalised or sent to CCFs

As for those who test positive for Covid-19, they will be sent either to hospitals, or to other facilities which are prepared to house confirmed cases, such as community care facilities (CCFs) such as the ones in D’Resort, Singapore EXPO, and Changi Exhibition Centre, the health ministry's Director of Medical Services Kenneth Mak said.

Isolation facilities to help reduce load on hospitals

The introduction of DIFs comes after a recent expansion of CCFs, which house mild Covid-19 cases in order to reduce the load on hospitals.

At the Apr. 28 technical briefing, Brigadier-General David Neo said that other measures have been taken to ensure sufficient hospital capacity to care for Covid-19 patients as well.

These include the postponement of non-urgent elective procedures at public hospitals, and making use of tele-consultations for follow-up appointments with patients. Some existing hospital facilities have been repurposed to create new capacity in isolation wards and intensive care units.

The initial approach taken in the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak saw all confirmed cases being isolated and cared for in hospitals.

However, there has been a movement away from this approach since late March, with the introduction of CCFs.

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Top image via MTF press release and MHA website.