Are netizens right to be almost blasé about CNY influx of patients to GP clinics?

Singapore — Chinese New Year in Singapore is the perfect time for?

Why, for making a quick visit to a your friendly neighbourhood general practitioner,  of course.

There’s been a surge of walk-in patients at a number of GP clinics over the first and second days of the Year of the Tiger, according to a news report.

While more people have been out and about recently even as Covid infections rise, many netizens commented that they are unsurprised.

One clinic said that more than 10 people took antigen rapid tests (ART) there on Feb 2 and tested positive, while another medical group told The Straits Times  patients had tripled on Tuesday and Wednesday compared with  early January.

ST quoted Dr Edwin Chng, medical director of Parkway Shenton Medical Group, as saying “The GP clinics saw much longer queues and an influx of patients with ARI (acute respiratory infection) cases.

“In fact, our clinic in Punggol ran out of ART kits and we had to move stocks from other clinics.”

These patients showed up with nasal congestion, cough, a runny nose, sore throat, body aches, and fatigue.

The influx is expected to continue, and perhaps even increase, on Thursday (Feb 3), when more clinics will be open, ST added.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health reported 6,264 new Covid cases, as well as three new deaths. On Wednesday, new cases had more than halved to 3,101 and there was one death.

More than  99 per cent of the new cases showed  few or no symptoms.

Most commenters greeted the report as nothing new, and few seemed alarmed by the increase in patients flocking to clinics in recent days.

But at least one felt for the healthcare workers  bearing the burden of care.

“People need to celebrate,” another netizen commented..

Others pointed out that there’s no need to panic.

/TISG

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