Home in focus: All in the same fight

Walking over to one of the portable beds, Dr Pang Ningyi, 35, delivers the swab test results to Mr Kamrul Hoque, who is lying on the bed.

The Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH) medical officer breaks the news slowly, with pauses in between, so that the 50-year-old Bangladeshi worker can digest the information.

"Hello sir, what is your name? You have the Covid-19 infection. Today you have to stay in the hospital. But don't worry, we will take care of you," says Dr Pang.

Just a few months ago, before the coronavirus pandemic, the Community Hub at Jurong Community Hospital (JCH) was a multipurpose hall used by patients for weekly activities like karaoke and movie sessions.

Now, the hall has been converted to house up to 48 patients while they await their Covid-19 swab results, which can take up to six hours.

Portable beds line the floor and are spaced out for safe distancing. Held up by yellow and red tape, transparent plastic sheets seal all exits except for the main entrance to the hall. TV screens and stage lights have also been wrapped up.

JCH and NTFGH are fully integrated hospitals that have been operational since 2015.

In March, NTFGH dealt with the then largest local cluster of patients who were connected to a private dinner function at Safra Jurong.

The majority of the Covid-19 cases at present are foreign workers who mainly reside in dormitories. As a number of these dormitories are in the western part of Singapore, there has been a spike in cases at the emergency department of NTFGH.

"We had to move fast to repurpose various areas, sometimes overnight, to meet the increasing load. Our fever tent at the emergency department has undergone two additional extensions to create a capacity of 18 trolley beds and 96 chairs," said Mr Foo Hee Jug, the chief executive officer of NTFGH.

Meals are prepared by the hospital kitchen. Now, during the Ramadan period, dates are also prepared for Muslim patients breaking fast.

Once the swab results are out, the care team will arrange for discharge if the results are negative; or prepare for admission or transfer to a community isolation facility if they turn out positive.

"Everyone is committed and working together to overcome this. Clinicians from other departments have stepped in readily to support the team at the emergency department," said Mr Foo.

One major strategy adopted by NTFGH was to create cohort wards for patients who are mostly clinically stable.

"We opened our first cohort ward at NTFGH on March 23, which could treat up to 38 Covid-19 patients. By creating cohort wards, we were able to free up single isolation rooms to care for those with more severe symptoms, or those where the diagnosis had yet to be established.

"Since then, we have converted an additional six floors of our wards to expand our capacity for Covid-19 patients," said Adjunct Assistant Professor Surinder Pada, head and senior consultant of infectious diseases at NTFGH.

To safeguard the patients and healthcare workers, there are strict infection control measures in place in these cohort wards.

For example, there are clearly demarcated "clean" and "dirty" zones; dedicated teams for different shifts to minimise mingling of staff; and adherence to personal protective equipment guidelines and infection control measures, including hand hygiene and safe distancing.