SINGAPORE – Both Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and Sengkang General Hospital (SKH) have reported a high number of patients at their emergency departments.
SKH has said its wards are now running at full capacity.
SGH posted about the surge in patients on Facebook on Friday (April 30) morning, while SKH posted on Saturday morning.
Both posts said priority will be given to those who are critically ill, and the waiting times for other patients are expected to be longer.
Each patient is also allowed only one companion.
The post by SKH said: “Our wards are also running at full capacity at the moment.”
Both hospitals said those with conditions that are not critical are advised to seek medical care at a general practitioner or a polyclinic.
SKH has about 1,000 beds, while SGH has about 1,700.
It is not known if the sudden surge in patients is related to the recent developments at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, which now has four wards locked down following the discovery of a Covid-19 cluster there.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, Dr Kenneth Tan, head and senior consultant at SGH’s Department of Emergency Medicine, sought the public’s understanding and patience.
He said: “We are seeing a higher than usual daily number of patients at our emergency department.
“We do not turn away any patient who comes to our emergency department to seek medical attention.”
He added that a new Emergency Medicine Building was being built, and will cater to the anticipated and evolving requirements for emergency care in the future.
It will also have significantly increased capacity and a wider range of services and facilities.
Both SGH and SKH are under the SingHealth group.
The Straits Times has contacted it for more information.
