Singapore — Starting from Sept 18, younger and fully vaccinated Covid cases have been encouraged to recover in their own homes, which frees up hospitals to be able to attend to more gravely ill patients.
However, this transition to home recovery has not been without hiccups, as some patients isolating at home have found the lack of communication from MOH, challenging.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday morning (Sept 22) that he had visited the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Case Management Task Group (CMTG) Operations Office, which takes charge of patients who have chosen Home Recovery, the day before.
“We now encourage fully vaccinated patients to recover at home wherever possible. This is less disruptive for them, especially if their symptoms are mild. It will also reduce demand for hospital beds, so that the seriously ill ones can get the treatment they need,” he wrote.
He acknowledged that “this is a stressful time for those with family members who have COVID-19,” adding that a number of people had written to him expressing their frustrations or to ask why the MOH has taken a while to communicate after a family member tested positive for the infection.
In a Sept 21 report in CNA, while one patient said he felt fortunate to be able to recover at home, another said he would have wanted to have isolated at a community care facility, because of the additional duties the members of his household had to take.
“I feel like it’s more troublesome to be recovering from home, because you depend on your people to feed you. They have schedules to adhere to as well. They’re dealing with work. Once I’m positive, they’re under home quarantine also. They need to organise groceries. It’s a lot of undue stress on them,” he told CNA in a phone conversation.
He also mentioned that he did not want to risk infecting the people he lives with and that it would also have been easier for his wife if he was quarantined elsewhere, as she is temporarily sleeping on their living room floor.
But the biggest problem the two people on home recovery that CNA talked to are facing is the lack of communication from the MOH. The Home Recovery Buddy, which the ministry announced would walk home recovery patients through the process, has so far not reached out to call them.
The patients seem to also be unclear as to when they can end their quarantine, and if a PCR test is needed to do so.
CNA also reported that one man has started a Telegram group due to the lack of communication from MOH. It’s called SG Quarantine Order Support Group and its aim is to help people in home recovery navigate through their period in isolation.
The group now has 24 members.
The man who created the group gave his name only as Jing Feng. Although he tested negative for Covid, he is currently isolating at home with his parents, who both tested positive. But Mr Jing shares a toilet with his father, increasing his chances of infection.
The group updates each other on how they are doing.
However, Mr Jing told CNA that he understands MOH and Certis are “badly overwhelmed” given the rising number of Covid cases at present.
But he also understands people’s frustrations at the lack of communication. He, therefore, started the group to help people feel less anxious, “and let them know that they’re not alone, what to expect and where to call.”
More information about Home Recovery may be found here and here. /TISG
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