askST: What does oxygen supplementation for Covid-19 patients involve?
SINGAPORE - As the nation moves towards living with endemic Covid-19, the Government's focus is shifting away from the number of daily cases to the condition of such cases - including those who require supplementary oxygen. The Straits Times spoke to Professor Dale Fisher, senior consultant at the National University Hospital's Division of Infectious Diseases and professor of medicine at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, to find out more about what this means. Q: What does oxygen supplementation involve? A: Blood oxygen levels can be routinely measured in patients with a simple clip device placed on the finger. When these levels are low, patients need to be given oxygen at a higher level than is in the air. This is done using nasal prongs or an oxygen mask, which helps to provide them with the extra oxygen. Q: There are many photos of hospitals around the world with patients lying in beds next to oxygen tanks. Is that how Singapore does it? A: You will only see tanks in less sophisticated hospital settings or in makeshift facilities. In Singapore, we have oxygen tanks when transferring patients or in temporary overflow structures used during a surge in patients at hospitals....
