Time Limit is Lifted in Hospitals for Visitors Who Test Negative for COVID-19 Test

By
Rachel Leong
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What can you do for 20 minutes in a hospital?

Maybe that’s just enough time to walk from the front entrance to the visitor wards, queue and register as a visitor, take the lift up, drop some food off for your loved one before having to say goodbye because you’ve run out of visiting time.

I’m sure the recent news of the 20-minute time limit for hospital visitations may have disappointed many of us since we would like to stay and accompany our loved ones longer if they’re in the hospital.

But good news! That may not be the case anymore.

Time Limit is Lifted in Hospitals for Visitors Who Test Negative for COVID-19 Test

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has announced that some visitors to hospitals might be able to stay for more than 20 minutes starting today (21 Jun).

However, before you leap up in joy and start packing your bags for an overnight stay at the hospital, this does come with a necessary requirement: the 20-minute limit will only be lifted if visitors first test negative for an antigen rapid test (ART).

This negative ART result is needed whether or not visitors have been vaccinated or not.

According to MOH, the ART must be done on the day of the visit, and can be administered by hospital staff or by the visitor themself if it is under supervision.

Visitors who test negative for their own ART or Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test within the past 24 hours or visitors who can produce a positive PCR test result issued within the past 270 days are exempted from the testing.

Results from self-test kits will not be accepted, and tests must be administered or supervised by hospital staff.

This move is part of a broader, nationwide effort to utilise COVID-19 tests like ARTs as a tool to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Visitors to hospitals aren’t the only ones who have to get tested: nursing home visitors must also test negative for an ART from today (21 Jun) onwards.

ARTs Not Available at All Hospitals

However, when The Straits Times contacted several hospitals, they revealed that they are not yet able to offer the ART for visitors.

These include Alexandra Hospital, which has promised to begin the compulsory ARTs starting tomorrow (22 Jun). Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) also said that it would offer the ARTs, but did not mention exactly when it would start doing so.

At the moment, the only hospital that has started offering ARTs today (21 Jun) is Singapore General Hospital (SGH). In a Facebook post published yesterday (20 Jun), SGH announced that its ARTs would be conducted at its ART centre, which is located in its Bowyer Block.

Who is Allowed to Stay Longer?

I’ll just tell you this now in case you get your hopes too high: not every Tom, Dick, and Harry can stay past 20 minutes in the hospital.

In fact, most visitors to hospitals will still have to comply with the 20-minute time limits. The only exceptions as recognised by MOH are visitors of these three categories of patients:

  1. Patients who are critically ill
  2. Patients who are birthing or post-partum mothers
  3. Patients who require additional care support (e.g. those with mental disabilities)

In these scenarios, hospitals can exercise discretion in allowing certain visitors to stay for longer periods.

Visitors involved in caregiver training will also be allowed to stay for more than 20 minutes—after testing negative for an ART.

Featured Image: Facebook (Alexandra Hospital)

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Rachel Leong
Email: [email protected]