Amid a congestion gridlock at emergency departments, hospitals in Singapore will no longer set aside entire wards for Covid-19 patients. Initially, anticipating large numbers of patients from the Covid-19 XBB wave, public hospitals had ring-fenced 800 beds. But only about 80 per cent were used at the peak, with as many as 300 beds empty off-peak. The practice of setting aside wards for such patients is no longer necessary, as most of the population are vaccinated and have good protection against severe illness. Instead, hospitals will manage Covid-19 patients the same way they do all other patients – based on the severity of their condition – while continuing the practice of using isolation beds for patients assessed to be at risk of spreading infectious diseases.

Setting aside 800 beds may not seem like a large number to some, but making such beds available for only one particular group of patients constrained hospital operations and impeded the clearing of patients waiting for beds at emergency departments. Even a small mismatch in demand and supply of a few hundred beds can cause waiting times to spike significantly. This was indeed the recent experience of hospitals. Hence the latest move, announced on Tuesday, is welcome as it will free up beds that can be used by other patients. This will enable hospitals to preserve flexibility so that they can optimise the use of beds, especially during a crunch.