Minster of Health Ong Ye Kung said on 28 July that preventing Singapore’s healthcare from being overwhelmed was the reason for the return to Phase 2 (HA).
He addressed how easily our hospital system could reach its capacity because of a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases.
All it takes is five weeks for Singapore’s ICU capacity to reach it’s limit.
Hospital beds could fill up in 1 week, and the ICU in 5 weeks.
A scenario where Singapore could potentially face a collapse of our healthcare system was highlighted by Ong:
“The odds of a large surge in cases are stacked against us: We knew that when a cluster grows uncontrollably, infection numbers would double every seven to 10 days, which meant that hospital beds could fill up in a week. Beyond that, we could be overwhelmed.”
He shared how hospitals overseas were overwhelmed and their healthcare systems collapsing; and they (the overseas hospitals) had to turn away sick patients, and doctors had to decide who lives and dies.
Ong reiterated that such a human tragedy like this cannot be allowed to happen in Singapore.
He shared that authorities have opened 70 ICU beds, double from a couple of weeks ago.
There are also plans to open more beds, as hospitals have added 1,000 isolation beds, of which 80% are occupied at the moment by suspected and confirmed cases.
The government is also monitoring the ICU numbers.
At the moment, there are 2 individuals warded in ICUs in critical condition.
Images source: Ong Ye Kung Facebook and Tan Tock Seng Hospital Facebook