Longer waiting times at number of hospital emergency departments

CGH, SKH and KTPH among those experiencing higher volume of patients

- Sherlyn Sim and Joyce Teo

Several hospitals, including Changi General Hospital (CGH) and Sengkang General Hospital (SKH), have been seeing a high volume of patients at their emergency departments (EDs), resulting in longer waiting times.

Both hospitals announced this on Facebook on May 14 at around 1pm, urging only people with serious or life-threatening emergencies to go to their EDs. Those experiencing mild to moderate symptoms like cough, sore throat or runny nose should visit general practitioners or a polyclinic, they said.

Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) has also been experiencing a higher patient volume at its ED since May 13, primarily due to the recent long weekend, a spokesman said.

"While there is a small increase in Covid-19 cases, the overall rise in our ED attendances is not primarily due to Covid-19," he said.