Doctors advise Singaporeans to vaccinate, put on face masks amidst COVID-19 wave

Singapore Doctors urge people to vaccinate, wear masks & practice good hygiene to reduce year-end increase in respiratory infections, including COVID-19 & Influenza.

Doctors in Singapore are calling on people to vaccinate and to put on a face mask to reduce the usual year-end increase in acute respiratory infections, including COVID-19, influenza and the common cold.

Both Healthway Medical, the largest general practice chain with more than 120 clinics, and Parkway Shenton with 55 GP clinics, say they have seen a 30% increase in respiratory infections, according to a report by The Straits Times on December 12.

“Raffles Medical with 43 GP clinics has also noticed an increase in such ailments,” the report added.

The latest Ministry of Health (MOH) data for the week ending December 2 showed an average of 2,970 cases a day at Singapore’s 25 polyclinics against a five-year median of 2,009 daily cases for 2018 to 2022 for this time of the year.

While this is lower than the 3,000 to 3,500 a day in the pre-pandemic years, it comes on the back of almost three years of low infection rates due to precautions taken against COVID-19. In 2020 and 2021, polyclinics were seeing fewer than 1,000 cases a day in early December.

Polyclinics treat about 20% of acute cases in the primary care setting, with the 1,800 GP clinics handling the rest.

For the same week, more than 32,000 people were diagnosed with COVID-19 — about 460 were hospitalised and nine needed intensive care, adding significantly to the bed crunch at public hospitals.