Doctors in Singapore believe the new wave of COVID-19 has peaked in the country, although some clinics are still seeing higher than usual numbers of patients and are tracking imaginable surges in the coming months. stabilization of cases, about 20% lower than in December, according to a report by Channel News Asia.
However, clinics are already making plans to get more drugs, in anticipation of a further backlog in the coming months.
Healthway Medical, for example, now sees an average of 50 to 60 patients who come with respiratory infections to its 57 clinics, according to the report. COVID-19 and flu cases make up the bulk of them.
This is about 10% more than the same number of patients previously, but a slight decrease from the Christmas peak.
“The peak of all cases of upper respiratory tract infection has stabilized. Most people have already returned from the trip,” said Dr. John Cheng, primary care leader at Healthway Medical Group, according to CNA.
“Most of our clinics actually had enough buffer for all the acute and upper respiratory tract infections… to cater for a sudden surge of patient numbers,” he said.
“By the end of the year, there will definitely be an increase. And then most of the time, holiday periods, holidays – with more and more people interacting, more travelers (traveling) coming in and out – we’re going to be expecting surges of those times,” he said.
OneCare Medical is also seeing cases stabilize at its 38 clinics. He said cases are less likely to recede, especially in the short term.
“We believe that AKI (acute respiratory infection) has already peaked, so we deserve to see the numbers stabilize and will likely slowly decline in the coming weeks, returning to the same baseline numbers,” said OneCare Medical CEO Dr. Jimmy Chew. . as stated.
“Of course, if the weather continues to be quite cold, and there continues to be a lot of circulating strains of ARI pathogens, then perhaps we might still see the numbers being sustained,” he said.
“As we approach the Chinese New Year (Feb. 10), demonstrations will continue to take place. And of course, there are still some travelers traveling, especially those who need to take advantage of the off-season,” Chew said.
“There may still be some infectious diseases. But of course, we expect to have already noticed the peak of ARI cases, so we will see a downward trend in the coming weeks,” he said.
“I think we want to keep a close eye on the situation. That’s why, when it comes to medicines, we have a tendency to do more inventory before waiting for that peak,” said Dr. Daniel Soong, medical director of the Unihealth Clinic, quoted through CNA.
“If we notice an increase in the number of cases and the number of cases, we can implement more in our clinic to reduce the waiting time for patients,” Soong said.
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