Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms can get results certified at quick test centres

SINGAPORE - Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms will be able to visit quick test centres to take a supervised antigen rapid test (ART), and get their results reflected in their HealthHub record.

Announcing this on Tuesday (Feb 15), Health Minister Ong Ye Kung noted that some people opt to see the doctor because they want their Covid-19 test results entered into their medical records.

Allowing quick test centres to do this will help take some pressure off general practitioners (GPs), whose clinics are flooded with Covid-19 patients, he said, adding that people can book an appointment to visit one of about 50 quick test centres from the end of Tuesday.

Singapore is in the midst of an Omicron surge with around 10,000 cases daily, and this could rise further to possibly 15,000 to 20,000 cases a day, Mr Ong said in Parliament in response to Mr Yip Hon Weng's (Yio Chu Kang) question on how the healthcare system is coping with the Omicron wave.

But he added that this is not an issue as most people who catch Covid-19 today have mild symptoms.

There are currently around 20 to 30 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), compared with the 171 ICU beds occupied by Covid-19 patients at the peak of the Delta wave last year.

"Where we face pressure now is not on the clinical side of healthcare but on the operational side of healthcare because the number of calls from patients to hotlines is increasing," said Mr Ong.

The Health Ministry (MOH) is able to answer well over 90 per cent of calls from the public, with the help of government agencies including the Singapore Armed Forces, he added.

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But GPs are facing quite a bit of pressure with long queues of patients, he said.

Mr Ong noted that people go to GPs for various reasons, for instance to confirm their infection and get a medical certificate, or to prove that they have recovered before travelling.

In Singapore, an infection episode can be considered a booster dose if a person prefers not to get the extra jab, provided he has seen a doctor so that the infection will be reflected in MOH's medical records.

Announcing the quick test centre initiative to ease the load on doctors, Mr Ong said MOH will provide further details on Tuesday.

However, the test centres will not be able to issue medical certificates, unlike going to a GP, he noted.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.