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Singapore healthcare system's accident and emergency (A&E) departments and general wards are "coming under pressure", Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Sunday, Sep. 19.

Ong made his comments in a Facebook post, pointing out that younger, fully vaccinated people are being encouraged to recover at home.

Cannot be overburdened

"Our hospitals and healthcare workers cannot be overburdened. At this point, this is MOH's biggest challenge and we are doing our best to solve this," Ong wrote, despite the overall intensive care unit (ICU) capacity holding up.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said a day earlier that some public hospitals here have been experiencing a surge in patients reporting to the A&E departments with mild respiratory infection symptoms.

No specific hospital was mentioned, but public hospitals had announced a week earlier of the situation, where priority would be given to the critically ill.

Public hospitals urge those well enough to go to GP

Singapore General Hospital, one of the hospitals that put up a post, said it saw a high number of patients at its emergency ward.

It said: "If your condition is not critical, please seek medical attention at a general practitioner (GP) or polyclinic."

The National University Hospital, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital have also put up similar posts.

TTSH said its emergency department has to triage Covid-19 cases to decide where they should be sent for treatment in addition to tending to other emergency cases.

Those who have the disease are admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

On the other hand, those who are suspected cases are admitted to designated wards at TTSH.

Non-emergency cases are to seek help at a GP or polyclinic instead, the hospital reiterated.

It added that those who are stable are sent home or to community care facilities to recover.

MOH urged the same

MOH urged on Sep. 18 for those who have mild symptoms to consult a GP at a Swab and Send Home clinic instead.

This is to avoid seeking treatment at the hospitals.

Whether hospitals can cope is a measure of Covid-19 fight

A key measure of Singapore's fight against the coronavirus, Ong and his multi-ministry task force on Covid-19 has repeatedly said, is whether the hospital system can cope.

Ong highlighted data from MOH in his Sep. 19 post.

It showed that age and vaccination status determines the chance of someone infected with Covid-19 coming down with severe illness.

Data from May 1 to Sep. 16 showed that those fully vaccinated and under the age of 70 did not get admitted to ICU or die from Covid-19.

Ong also noted that more than 98 per cent of those vaccinated who were infected from May 1 to Sep. 16 had either no or mild symptoms, and tended to remain that way until recovery.

He wrote: "That is why we are encouraging younger, fully vaccinated people to recover from home, and we admit patients to community care facilities instead of hospitals, and are also setting up more community care facilities, which will be ready this coming week."

"This is so that hospital beds and A&E services go to those who need them most."

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Top photo via Ong Ye Kung