Singapore clinics ready to handle potential jump in Covid-19 cases linked to China arrivals
- Health centres are stocking up on medication and preparing their workers to manage a higher patient load
- Clinics, however, say the city state is in a strong position to deal with imported coronavirus infections due to its high vaccination rate
One clinic, Unihealth, said it has seen nearly 10 per cent more cases compared to last week.
The chain’s busiest branch at Jurong West has been handling about 20 Covid-19 cases a week. In recent days, some of the patients have been travellers from China or their close contacts.
“We’ve seen some patients who have family members returned from China, and they have contracted Covid-19 as well,” said Dr Xie Huizhuang, the clinic’s medical director.
“But in the grand scheme of things, the numbers, it’s not too significant at least at this stage,” she said.
On January 8, China lifted quarantine requirements and travel curbs, ending three years of a strict zero-Covid policy. It also started processing travel documents such as passports and visas for citizens, after discouraging non-essential outbound travel since the pandemic began.