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SINGAPORE – The swab booths are now located in 170 clinics across the island to allow people with shortness of breath and cough or showing any signs of Covid-19 infection to get tested while reinforcing the safety of general practitioners (GPs), clinic staff, and their patients.
It is in line with the national effort to increase testing capabilities, with Singapore moving into phase two of its reopening.
The clinics are part of a network of 900 Public Health Preparedness Clinics (PHPC) spread across the island, of which 400 are equipped to allow anyone 13 years of age or older diagnosed with symptoms of acute respiratory infection (ARI) ) get tested for coronavirus.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) had previously said that the strategy is to test all people diagnosed with ARI once there is sufficient testing capacity.
The swab booths, constructed with an aluminum frame and polycarbonate panels, are lightweight and mobile. They were developed by the local engineering company ATC and sponsored by the Temasek Foundation.
Known as Cosmo-Slim, they have been in testing since late July to equip PHPCs with safe and effective mobile swabbing capabilities, said Temasek Foundation executive director Ng Boon Heong.
He added that the booths allow the 170 clinics to be “better protected while swabbing patients with symptoms of acute respiratory infections immediately in their clinic’s office, without having to send them elsewhere.”
Swab tests are also available from Regional Screening Centers, a network that the Health Promotion Board is expanding. With the improved testing capabilities, the burden on other facilities such as hospitals will be reduced, doctors note.
Dr. Teo Boon See, who was among the GPs who helped design the swab booth, said having one at her Camry Medical Center clinic in Toa Payoh Lorong 4 will make swabs more convenient for her patients. and will guarantee the safety of the personnel involved. .
“Sometimes patients sneeze and cough while cleaning. So having a swab booth protects the doctor from contact with their respiratory droplets, ”said Dr. Teo, who cares for many elderly patients.
“When patients have samples taken at their neighborhood GPs, they can go home to wait for the test results instead of traveling to other testing centers to get the samples, which makes them more convenient and it also helps keep the community safe.
“There is also an added sense of comfort and familiarity for patients who may be uneasy about getting a swab, if the test is administered by their GP,” he added.
GPs can direct patients requiring a swab test to selected PHPCs in the Swab and Send Home (Sash) program, as well as polyclinics.
In order for patients to receive a free consultation and swab test, they must arrive at their referred PHPC Sash within 48 hours. Otherwise, the fees normally charged by clinics under the Influenza Subsidy Scheme or Community Health Care Scheme (Chas) will apply.
It will cost Singaporean and permanent residents, and eligible work permit holders, a subsidized flat fee of $ 10. Seniors from Pioneer Generation and Merdeka Generation would have to pay $ 5.
Swab tests on PHPCs typically take one to two days to process, and patients are encouraged to stay home for a while for their results.
Meanwhile, GPs participating in the swab booth test have been encouraged to provide feedback after using the booths, to help improve design and functionality.
Based on previous comments, the cabinet design was made slimmer and more compact so that it could be easily pushed through the clinic doors.
Physicians are required to put on personal protective equipment when performing swab tests and are encouraged to use the booth outdoors, in quiet areas with little human traffic, or in a well-ventilated room within the clinic.
The cabinets panels are made of frosted material to ensure patient privacy.
The latex gloves are placed on a panel that separates the swab from the patient, where clinicians insert their hands to collect the swab sample from the patient.
Once the swab has been taken, all areas of the cabinet should be sprayed immediately with a 70 percent alcohol disinfectant, to avoid cross-contamination between patients.
As an added layer of safety, the cabinet has also been fitted with a self-sanitizing antimicrobial coating that lasts for around six months, although efficacy testing of the coating is still in progress.
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