The Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Thursday (Oct 21) that physical visits to hospitals and residential care homes will continue to be suspended until Nov 21.

The suspension is to protect healthcare capacity and vulnerable seniors as Covid-19 cases in the community are rising.

The suspension had previously been set to run till Saturday for hospitals, and till Sunday for residential care homes.

Meanwhile, from Friday, around 1,000 postmen will be delivering 10 antigen rapid test kits to every Singapore household.

MOH will mail them via SingPost, making it more convenient for the public to test themselves regularly at home.

Separately, MOH said on Wednesday that the surge in Covid-19 cases has placed significant pressure on public hospitals here, with 89 per cent of isolation beds and 67 per cent of intensive care unit beds occupied.

Infectious diseases clinician David Allen shares more about the situation in hospitals. Associate Professor Allen, who is from the Infectious Diseases Translational Research Programme at NUS’ Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, also explains the strain the healthcare system is under.

Source: Straits Times