The Singapore Navy has been deploying its medical personnel to provide urgent frontline medical care to migrant workers living at S11 Dormitory @ Punggol — the largest COVID-19 cluster to date.
In a Facebook post on Friday (24 April), the Navy wrote that personnel from its Navy Medical Service (NMS), who form part of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) medical team at the dormitory, have been tending to the migrant workers at the dormitory since two weeks ago.
“They form part of the national medical efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. Many more medical personnel from Navy and across the SAF are also deployed in various isolation facilities and hospitals,” the Navy added.
“We are here to ensure that amidst this global pandemic, the people who contribute to building the nation are well taken care of,” the Navy quoted Military Expert 4 (ME4) Elton Goh as saying.
ME4 Goh is the Ground Commander for the SAF medical team at the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol.
In addition to managing ground operations at the dormitory, he also works closely with other agencies to provide healthcare for all the migrant workers and to ensure the safety of the healthcare staff deployed at the dormitory.
The healthcare screenings conducted by the SAF medical team at the dormitory, according to the Navy, begins at 8.30 am at the triage area, where medical personnel “take the vitals of the patients”.
Patients are then directed to the doctor for consultation.
“The team then works closely with external hospital staff for the swabbing of identified patients,” said the Navy.
The SAF medical team prepares their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in a clean zone away from the patients on a daily basis, the Navy added.
At the end of each day, the team undergoes decontamination before entering the clean zone to remove all PPE and to wash their hands.
“As it is important to maintain infection control, any adjustment to the masks and PPE need to be minimized. During the hours of seeing the patients, the medical team are not allowed to eat or drink water,” said the Navy.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (22 April) confirmed 71 additional cases linked to the cluster at S11 Dormitory @ Punggol. The cluster has now recorded a total of 2,211 confirmed cases.
