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Two elderly men are seen in Singapore. (File photo: Gaya Chandramohan) - 

All in-person visits to residential care homes will be suspended from Monday (Sep 13) after an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases among staff, clients and residents. 

Forty-two cases across 18 aged care facilities have been detected in the past two weeks, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Sunday. “With the number of cases expected to continue to rise in the coming weeks, we need to take further action to protect the vulnerable seniors in these settings,” the ministry added. 

Visits will be suspended for four weeks, until Oct 11. “This temporary suspension of visitation will give us time to encourage more unvaccinated seniors to get vaccinated, and roll out the vaccine booster programme for residents of aged care facilities,” said the Health Ministry. 

Employees, residents and clients of aged care facilities will be tested more frequently with Antigen Rapid Tests (ART) as part of efforts to “strengthen” the testing regime, MOH said. 

The ministry also encouraged the next-of-kin of unvaccinated seniors in aged care facilities “to support and encourage their loved ones to be vaccinated”. 

“Unvaccinated seniors may suffer severe illness if infected. It is also important for vaccinated seniors to receive the booster vaccination when it is made available, to ensure a continued high level of immunity and protection from severe disease,” the Health Ministry said//CNA