Mask up, get latest jabs, say doctors as Covid-19, flu cases rise

Doctors are calling on people to get vaccinated and to mask up, to reduce the usual year-end increase in acute respiratory infections, which include Covid-19, influenza and the common cold.

- Salma Khalik

Both Healthway Medical, the largest general practice chain with more than 120 clinics, and Parkway Shenton, with 55 GP clinics, say they have seen a 30 per cent increase in respiratory infections.

Raffles Medical, with 43 GP clinics, has also noticed increases in such ailments.

Ministry of Health (MOH) data for the week ending Dec 2 showed an average of 2,970 cases a day seen at Singapore's 25 polyclinics against a five-year median of 2,009 daily cases for 2018 to 2022 for this time of the year.

While this is lower than the 3,000 to 3,500 a day in the prepandemic years, it comes on the back of almost three years of low infection rates due to precautions taken against Covid-19. In 2020 and 2021, polyclinics were seeing fewer than 1,000 cases a day in early December.

Polyclinics treat about 20 per cent of acute cases in the primary care setting, with the 1,800 GP clinics handling the rest.

For the same week, more than 32,000 people were diagnosed with Covid-19 - 460 were hospitalised and nine needed intensive care. This has added significantly to the bed crunch at public hospitals.