Coronavirus: Those who are unwell urged to stay away from elderly family members
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An elderly patient at the emergency department of Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Health Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday called for more precautions to be taken to protect the elderly, with figures in international studies showing that the risk of dying from Covid-19 rises significantly with age.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Toh Ting Wei
If unwell, people should avoid interacting with the elderly members of their family amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Besides adhering to safe distancing measures, family members should also adhere to the practice of washing their hands with soap as this has been proven to be an effective measure against being infected.
Noting that it is difficult to avoid close interaction between members of a family, including the elderly, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday called for more precautions to be taken to protect the elderly. Mr Gan co-chairs the multi-ministry task force set up to combat the spread of the virus.
Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, has claimed three lives in Singapore - a 70-year-old Singaporean man, a 75-year-old Singaporean woman and a 64-year-old Indonesian man.
While each of them had pre-existing conditions, figures released in international studies have shown that the risk of dying from Covid-19 rises significantly with age.
Ministry of Health director of medical services Kenneth Mak said at a virtual media conference yesterday that it was important for people to do their part to protect seniors by keeping their distance.
"If you are not well, please desist from visiting them and exposing them unduly to infection," said Associate Professor Mak. "It is important for us to take reasonable measures to protect our seniors."
In Singapore, all social activities organised by government agencies for seniors have been suspended until April 30. The People's Association, which runs many of these programmes, said the suspension would affect 2,600 classes and 11,000 activities attended by about 290,000 participants.
Mr Gan also announced yesterday that patients would temporarily be able to tap their Community Health Assist Scheme cards and Medisave to pay for video consultations for seven chronic conditions, starting on Friday.
The conditions are: diabetes, hypertension, lipid disorder, major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and anxiety.
The measure is being introduced to promote safe distancing amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
"This will allow patients whose conditions are stable to use video consultations and avoid physical visits to the clinic at this period of time," Mr Gan said.
MOH said patients with these conditions can generally be managed through video consultations without physical examination if their conditions are stable.
