SINGAPORE - General practitioner, or GP, clinics play an important role in treating and managing Covid-19 cases in the community, President Halimah Yacob said during a community engagement visit at the Ang Mo Kio (AMK) Family Medicine Clinic on Monday (Feb 24).

"The primary care in clinics is important because otherwise our hospitals will be inundated. The hospitals' attention to treat patients who are in a critical state may be diverted if everyone visits a hospital if they feel they have symptoms of the virus," said President Halimah.

During the visit, she saw different measures implemented by the clinic, which is one of the GP clinics activated as a Public Health Preparedness Clinic (PHPC), as part of the measures against the coronavirus disease known as Covid-19.

President Halimah also interacted with healthcare workers at the clinic and thanked them for their efforts during the crisis.

"Our healthcare workers and healthcare institutions in the primary care sector are doing their best to work together with the hospitals to overcome the challenges that Covid-19 has brought. I want to assure them that the Government will always support them in their efforts to overcome the challenges."

AMK Family Medicine Clinic registered as a PHPC on Feb 19 and has since seen five to 10 patients more each day with respiratory symptoms.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has activated more than 800 GP clinics across the island, where people with respiratory symptoms can receive subsidised treatment and medication.

They are found in major Housing Board estates such as Ang Mo Kio, Tampines, Woodlands and Jurong.

Citizens and permanent residents pay a flat rate of $10 for consultation and treatment at these clinics, while Pioneer- and Merdeka-generation Singaporeans pay $5.

The network of PHPC clinics was previously used to deal with the haze and the H1N1 pandemic.

Staff at these clinics are supplied with personal protective equipment, MOH said.

Later in the day, President Halimah also visited the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore's Training & Development Centre in Eunos and interacted with more than 20 beneficiaries, who put together 1,500 care packages for healthcare workers at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases and Tan Tock Seng Hospital.