SINGAPORE: COVID-19 patients in Singapore who are assessed to be clinically well by day 21 of the onset of illness can be discharged without further tests, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong announced on Thursday (May 28).
The revised criteria for discharge takes effect immediately.
Advertisement Advertisement These individuals will, however, will be required to remain at home or at dormitories for another seven days before they can return to work, said Mr Gan at a press conference by the multi-ministry task force on COVID-19.
[h=3]READ: No Singaporeans or permanent residents among the 373 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore[/h]Explaining the decision, Mr Gan pointed to a position paper by physicians from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), which showed that COVID-19 patients are no longer infectious by day 21, despite still testing positive for the coronavirus.
He added that the World Health Organization (WHO) also published its recommendation on Wednesday to shift from transmission-based discharge to time-based discharge for patients who are clinically well.
Advertisement Advertisement “Patients who are clinically well can now be discharged from after 10 days from the onset of illness, plus at least three days without respiratory symptoms or fever,” Mr Gan said of the WHO recommendations.
“As we know more about COVID-19, as a result of both global research, as well as research done locally, we will adjust our medical plan for COVID-19 patients."
According to NCID executive director Professor Leo Yee Sin, who was also at the press conference, local studies show that of more than 700 patients, about 30 per cent of them cleared the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests by the time they reached day 15 of their clinical illness.
By the 21st day, 68 per cent of them cleared the PCR test.
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