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Hospitals to allow visitors from same or one other household from June 2; limited to one visitor at a time

SINGAPORE — Visiting will resume at hospitals from June 2, but this will be limited to visitors from the same household as the patient or from one other household.

Visiting will resume at hospitals from June 2, but it will be limited to visitors from the same household as the patient or from one other household.

Visiting will resume at hospitals from June 2, but it will be limited to visitors from the same household as the patient or from one other household.

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SINGAPORE — Visiting will resume at hospitals from June 2, but this will be limited to visitors from the same household as the patient or from one other household.

Only one person would be allowed to visit at a time, although a maximum of five visitors can sign up with the hospital, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement on Friday (May 22). 

Hospitals may also introduce further measures to space out visits and avoid crowding, said the ministry, which stressed the need to protect vulnerable patients. 

In the statement, MOH also announced that some healthcare services that were previously considered non-essential during the circuit breaker to contain Covid-19 will gradually resume from June 2.

The circuit breaker, which began on April 7, is scheduled to end on June 1, with restrictions on social and business activities to be relaxed in phases.

Earlier this week, TODAY reported that MOH had issued a circular to licensees of general practitioner clinics and specialist medical clinics, stating that selected healthcare services can resume in a “tiered framework”.

Healthcare services that will be available in the first phase include vaccinations for flu, pneumococcal and other recommended adult vaccination, pre-enlistment health screenings, all in-vitro fertilisation services and surveillance services, such as scopes for high-risk groups. 

Surgeries that have been deferred for some months and cannot be postponed further without incurring greater risk can also resume. These procedures include surgeries for visually significant or advanced cataracts for the eye, hearing implants in children and joint surgeries for patients with severe impairment.

Some dental care services will also resume, such as the fixing of crowns, root canal operations and the making of dentures.

In its statement on Friday, MOH said that more healthcare services will resume in the second phase, should cases in the community remain low over the next few weeks and the situation at migrant workers' dormitories stay under control.  

In the “early part” of the second phase, MOH said it expects most healthcare services to resume. But services for medically necessary treatments will be prioritised. “This will be subject to the need to minimise appointments for physical consultations unless clinically needed, based on the ability to maintain safe distancing,” it added. 

Such services include chronic disease and cancer screenings, pre-employment medical screenings and statutory medical examinations.

MOH said that group activities such as senior activities, community health screenings and other forms of congregation will resume in later phases.

It will also consider further easing visitor restrictions “to allow more family members and friends to visit loved ones admitted to hospitals”. This will still be subject to overall visitor caps, the ministry added.

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Covid-19 coronavirus hospital visitors doctor healthcare

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