By Massita Ahmad
SINGAPORE — With many more COVID-19 cases detected, mostly mild, Singapore urgently needs a solution to house the large numbers to prevent hospitals from getting swamped, the republic’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said today.
In his Facebook page today, Lee appended a local online news article that showed a timelapse of how two halls in Singapore Expo were converted into a temporary isolation facility for 950 patients in just three days.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to improvise and come up with innovative, workable solutions on the ground.
“It’s a constant trial and error, to find the best way to help the most people in the shortest time,” said Lee.
From Saturday’s tally of 12,693, Singapore classified 10,525 of them as dorm residents or about three per cent from the total of about 323,000 foreign workers staying in dormitories.
Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) said that most of these cases are mild illnesses and are being monitored in community isolation facilities or in hospital general wards while none of them is in the intensive care unit.
Lee also noted that besides Singapore Expo, other locations are also being repurposed, including the Changi Exhibition Centre to accommodate 2,800 people, and Tanjong Pagar Terminal for another 15,000.
“These community facilities allow our hospitals to focus on the more serious cases,” said Lee.
As at noon today, Singapore reported a total of 931 new cases of COVID-19 infection, bringing the tally to 13,624.
The MOH attributed the vast majority of the cases to foreign workers residing in dormitories while only 15 cases are Singaporeans or Permanent Residents.
— BERNAMA
