Ward visitors at hospitals thin out as ban kicks in to stem Covid-19 transmission

SINGAPORE – Crowds were seen at several local hospitals, but most were there for outpatient treatment on Thursday (Aug 5), the first day of the barring of visits to hospital wards islandwide.

The Straits Times observed only a few people at the ward registration counters of Singapore General Hospital, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

Visits to hospital wards are not allowed from Aug 5 to 18 to stem further Covid-19 transmission after clusters involving staff and patients have emerged at Changi General Hospital (CGH) and Yishun Community Hospital (YCH).

A spokesman for TTSH said on Thursday that it has communicated the change in visiting policy to all its patients and their families.

“They are generally understanding of the need. All visitors have to be registered before they can enter our wards. We will reiterate the importance of this change in policy at our counters and seek our visitors’ cooperation to keep our patients and staff safe,” said the spokesman.

Four patient groups are exempted from this rule on a case-by-case basis. They include patients who are very ill, patients who are babies or children, as well as mothers who are due to give birth or have delivered.

Patients requiring additional care support from caregivers will also be exempted, but only one visitor is allowed each day for a duration of no more than 30 minutes at the patient’s bedside. They include visitors helping patients who have mental incapacities and family members who are undergoing caregiver training.

Visitors who need to stay beyond 30 minutes for reasons such as caregiver training will be allowed only after they have tested negative on a supervised antigen rapid test. They should take the test a maximum of 24 hours before their visit.

The ministry had announced a cluster of four cases at YCH on Sunday. The infections broke out in a ward with 32 patients who are mostly above 60 years old.

A new cluster of three cases was reported at CGH on Tuesday – three days after the Ministry of Health closed another cluster there which had 20 cases.

The recent wave of infections follows Singapore’s first hospital cluster at TTSH in April, which led to the hospital halting admissions for two weeks as the number of cases grew to 46.