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Introduction: Military forces around the world face an increased risk of the spread of communicable diseases, due to the close living quarters and congregated nature of the military camps. The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) implemented a multi-pronged surveillance and containment strategy to reduce the risk of a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak within the local military camps. This paper details the epidemiological investigations of the COVID-19 cases in the SAF and highlights the strategies and public health measures undertaken, aligned with the national COVID-19 control strategy, to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in the military camps. Materials and Methods: Medical data of our military personnel who were infected with COVID-19 during the first 180 days of the pandemic were extracted from the military electronic health records. Contact tracing and activity mapping results were obtained from unit-level epidemiological data. A review of the organization's response plans, instructions, and orders was conducted to collate the measures implemented across the same time period. Results: Prompt contact tracing and activity mapping was done for each of the 24 SAF military personnel diagnosed with COVID-19 between February 2020 and June 2020, with possible links among the cases identified and investigated. Conclusion: A combination of strategies in the formulation of public health measures based on key principles of early warning and surveillance, prompt diagnosis, and early containment were successful in preventing the formation of COVID-19 clusters within the SAF. This will provide a framework for the management of future pandemics within the military setting, driven by strong governance and leadership, to meet the military's need to maintain operational readiness in a safe manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) recognises the potential benefits and looks to harnessing telemedicine for primary health care services. In this prospective self-controlled pilot study, we aimed to evaluate the safety, efficiency and user satisfaction outcomes of virtual care (VC) at a military medical centre.Methods: Out of 320 patients seen during the study period, 28 were enrolled in this study and underwent on-premises VC, comprising digital symptoms collection and telemedicine in addition to the usual in-person physician consultation. Safety outcomes were measured based on the diagnostic concordance between physicians. Efficiency was measured based on consultation times, and user satisfaction was evaluated using a standard questionnaire.Results: There was a higher caseload of both upper respiratory infections and dermatological conditions in our population, in which telemedicine performed well. In terms of safety, telemedicine achieved a mean diagnostic concordance of 92.8% compared to in-person consultations. In terms of efficiency, consultation times were 26.2% - or 2 minutes and 15 seconds - shorter on average with telemedicine (p = 0.0488). User satisfaction was favourable, with 85.5% of patients satisfied with the VC experience.Discussion: This study has been invaluable in showing that on-premises telemedicine is a safe, efficient and effective means to extend and increase our surge capacity for primary health care. Our results have given us reasonable confidence to explore a larger-scale implementation in our network of military medical centres in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]