Although some clinics are still dealing with higher-than-usual patient numbers, medical experts in Singapore believe the recent wave of COVID-19 infections has peaked in the country, and the coming months will bring We are paying close attention to the possibility that the number of patients may rapidly increase.
In a report published by Channel News Asia on Friday, doctors reported that the number of infections has decreased by 20% since December and is stabilizing.
Nevertheless, clinics are already making plans for additional staff and drug supplies in preparation for another surge in the coming months.
Healthway Medical, for example, currently sees an average of 50 to 60 patients with respiratory infections a day across its 57 clinics, according to the report. Most of these are caused by influenza and COVID-19.
This is about 10% higher than normal case numbers, but slightly down from the peak around Christmas.
“The peak in cases of upper respiratory infections has plateaued. The majority of people have already returned from travel,” said John Chen, director of primary care at Healthway Medical Group. Quoted from Dr.
“Most of our clinics actually had sufficient buffers for all acute and upper respiratory tract infections to handle sudden spikes in patient numbers,” he said.
“We’re definitely going to see a spike towards the end of the year. And most of the time, during the festival season and holiday periods, more and more people are interacting and more travelers are coming and going, so there will be some spikes during these times. “We expect a sharp increase in the number of cases,” he said.
At OneCare Medical, patient volume is stabilizing across its 38 clinics. It is unlikely that the number of infected people will increase significantly again in the short term.
“We feel that ARI (acute respiratory infections) has already peaked, so the numbers should stabilize and probably slowly decline over the next few weeks, returning to normal baseline numbers,” CNA quoted Dr. Jimmy Choo, CEO of OneCare Medical. As you say.
“Of course, if the weather remains very cold and many strains of ARI pathogens continue to circulate, perhaps those numbers may still be maintained,” he said.
“As we approach Lunar New Year (February 10), we will continue to see gatherings. And of course, there are still travelers who want to travel, especially those who want to take advantage of the off-peak season,” Chu said. .
“Maybe there is still some infection going on. But of course, hopefully, we’ve already seen the peak of ARI cases and we’ll see a downward trend in the coming weeks,” he said. Stated.
“I think we need to continue to monitor the situation closely. So when it comes to medicines, we tend to stockpile more before this expected peak,” said Dr. Daniel Sun, medical director of UniHealth Clinic. CNA reported.
“If we notice an increase in the number of cases and the number of cases, we may increase staffing at the clinic to reduce waiting times for patients,” Song said.
(with input from PTI)