SINGAPORE — Some nursing homes here are taking more precautions against Covid-19 after a cluster of infections emerged at an old folks’ home this week.

One home has segregated its live-in employees based on the wards they serve. Another has told its staff members not to mingle with workers from other homes outside work hours.

And with visitors barred from all nursing homes this month, some operators are keeping their residents occupied by holding more movie screenings and games. Meanwhile, residents of several homes will soon be able to chat with their families online via mobile tablets.

On Wednesday (April 1), the authorities confirmed 10 new Covid-19 cases linked to the Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home on Thomson Lane, a day after one infection was identified there.

Among the 11 patients from the cluster, nine are residents of the home. The two other patients are an employee and her family member, who works at the Moral Home for the Aged Sick in Bedok.

Other nursing homes are not taking chances. 

Ms Lee Geok Yian, nursing director at the Ling Kwang Home for Senior Citizens on Serangoon Garden Way, told TODAY that staff members who live in its in-house dormitories would be segregated based on the wards under their charge by this week. 

About half of the home’s employees live in the dormitories. Ms Lee declined to reveal the number of employees at the home. 

This means that its nursing staff will not share dormitory areas with employees from other wards.

The home, which has 318 residents, has applied the same rule to its staff dining hall to minimise interaction between employees from separate wards.

Econ Healthcare Group, which runs eight nursing homes, said it has also split its staff members based on the wards they serve. “We are avoiding cross-deployment, so our nursing staff working in one ward cannot enter another,” it said.

The All Saints Home, which operates four centres, said that its staff members have been segregated into zones. 

At NTUC Health, chief executive officer Chan Su Yee said that in the last few weeks, care staff members at its three nursing homes have been split into fixed groups when looking after residents. They also practise staggered mealtimes to minimise movement across wards.

Meanwhile, Good Shepherd Loft, a private nursing home on Bukit Timah Road, has instructed staff members not to socialise with friends from other nursing homes outside their working hours, said its director Belinda Wee.

VIDEO CALLS, MOVIE SCREENINGS TO KEEP SENIORS OCCUPIED

To help residents stay connected with their families, nursing homes are also buying the equipment needed for video calls.

Dr Wee of Good Shepherd Loft said that the home is facilitating phone, Skype and video calls between its 33 residents and their relatives.  

Econ Healthcare Group has bought mobile tablet devices for all its centres to allow its 800 residents to do short video calls with their families.

NTUC Health’s nursing homes have also from Thursday arranged 10-minute video calls between residents and their families.

Ms Lee from Ling Kwang Home said that its mobile tablets would be ready this week, so that its residents can talk to their relatives online. “We have about four or five residents whose family members used to come in to visit them every day,” she said.

To cheer its residents up, Ling Kwang Home has increased the frequency of its in-house activities and programmes, such as movie screenings and small-group bingo games.

Residents taking part in these activities, which are capped at fewer than 10 people, are split based on their wards. They attend the activities in separate rooms or at different times of the day from those who live in other wards.

NTUC Health said its nursing homes still conduct leisure activities daily, including karaoke sing-alongs and arts and crafts, though group sizes have also been cut.

It has also held talks to educate residents on Covid-19. These include lessons on good personal hygiene and identifying coronavirus symptoms.

Ms Chan, its CEO, said that while some caregivers were disappointed that they would not be able to visit their relatives for a while, most understood that this was a temporary measure to minimise the risk of transmission.

“Residents, on the other hand, have also been understanding of the precautionary measures in place, sharing that they are aware it is for their own safety,” she said.