SINGAPORE - Village Hotel Sentosa is the latest addition to the Ministry of Health's (MOH's) list of community care facilities designated for those who have contracted Covid-19 but are experiencing mild or no symptoms.
This brings the total number of such designated facilities to six, with the other five being D'Resort NTUC, Tuas South, former Ang Mo Kio Institute of Technical Education, Civil Service Club @ Loyang (CSC@ Loyang) and Bright Vision Hospital.
The 606-room Village Hotel Sentosa, which is under Far East Hospitality, officially opened on April 1, 2019.
With the new addition, the six community care facilities that MOH is now operating can accommodate more than 5,000 individuals, said a spokesman.
In late May, the authorities said that three community care facilities - D'Resort, Tuas South and Bright Vision Hospital - were being used, while two more - at the former site of the Ang Mo Kio Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and CSC @ Loyang - had been activated. In all, the five facilities had a capacity of 4,100 people.
CSC@ Loyang was formerly known as Aloha Loyang and has 38 two- and four-bedroom chalets.
In Parliament on Monday (July 26), Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that fully vaccinated individuals aged 45 to 59 years old, who are infected with Covid-19 and show no or mild symptoms, can be directly admitted to community care facilities instead of going to hospitals first.
This was already the practice for those aged 17 to 45.
As Singapore prepares to live with an endemic Covid-19, this move will help lessen the load on hospitals, which can better focus on helping sicker patients, said Mr Ong.
It would allow up to 60 per cent of infected persons to recover in community care facilities; and, in the future, possibly up to 80 per cent will be able to do so, with some even recovering at home, he said.
Mr Ong also said that fully vaccinated people with Covid-19 can be discharged after 14 days - instead of 21 days - with leave of absence of seven days.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 cases here continue to rise, with more than 100 new cases logged every day since July 19. At the same time, more people are also getting their Covid-19 jabs, which protect them against becoming critically ill when infected.
As at July 28, there were 1,322 people in community facilities, 565 in stable condition in the hospitals, and two in critical condition.
