Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of the services in Singapore are stressed and manpower is short. It's a strain to the healthcare system and IMH is our largest psychiatry hospital in Singapore. We do have some manpower that is deployed elsewhere, but we still have general practitioners in polyclinics or in private practice who can refer them to IMH if necessary. So that means that they are always open for the very severe cases, whereas, for the milder cases, from what I understand, there will be a phone call made to existing patients. So they will call them and make sure that they are okay, and give them medication and give them another appointment to come back when it is safer.
Question
Will there be elevated stress for caregivers during pandemics like the COVID-19 crisis?
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