Home recovery woes: SAF, PA co-opted to help clear backlog

WHILE home recovery remains the most appropriate care management protocol for fully vaccinated individuals aged 12 to 69, Community Treatment Facilities (CTFs) are also being expanded for patients who are stable but at greater risk, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday.

Acknowledging teething issues with the home recovery programme, the multi-ministry taskforce (MTF) said immediate action is being taken, including increasing resources for hotline manning and telemedicine, as well as getting support from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the People's Association.

Apart from eligible fully vaccinated individuals, parents with infected children aged two to 11 may choose home recovery for them, after their children have been assessed to be suitable.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 patients who are stable but require closer monitoring will be admitted to appropriate intermediate care facilities. Those with co-morbidities - who are thus at risk of developing severe illness - but who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic will be monitored at CTFs.

These CTFs will be closely partnered by hospitals, with seamless escalation protocols so patients can be conveyed to an acute hospital expeditiously for further treatment when necessary.

While this is similar to the protocol at Community Care Facilities, CTFs have a higher level of medical care to ensure that patients are cared for with the appropriate level of medical manning and supporting equipment, said the MOH.

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"(We are) planning to open another 700 beds at Changi Expo and another 200 at Sengkang General Hospital," said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung during the MTF press conference. "This will be done over the next couple of weeks."

The government is seeking help from private sector hospitals as well as the SAF to operate CTFs, he added. The first CTF opened on Thursday at NTUC Health Nursing Home (Tampines), with 250 beds.

Mr Ong noted that today, about 40 per cent of daily cases recover at home. "Without the home recovery programme, the system would have been overwhelmed already, so it is important that we get it right."

With the ramped-up efforts, Singapore should be able to cope with 2,000 to 2,500 new cases daily, though the system will be "quite stretched", he added.

Separately, eight regional screening centres (RSCs) and three quick test centres (QTCs) will be open on weekends starting from tomorrow, to facilitate prompt testing. Individuals with acute respiratory systems can get free PCR swab tests there.

Currently, such individuals can visit private GP clinics to be tested, but not all such Swab and Send Home clinics are open on weekends.

Weekend visits to the RSCs and QTCs are by appointment only, to prevent overcrowding. Appointment booking will only be open from Friday, 6pm to Sunday, 3pm of each weekend, for bookings on that weekend.

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