After a year of combating the disease with stringent infection control measures, the Government began preparing Singaporeans for living with endemic COVID-19. More was now known about the disease and, more importantly, a high percentage of the population was now vaccinated. The new approach was to conserve critical hospital resources to ensure that high-risk cases and the acutely unwell would have a high level of medical care when needed. The primary providers of medical care for mild COVID-19 cases would be community doctors and recovery at home would be the default.

A mindset shift was also needed — COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms could recover from home safely, allowing limited healthcare resources to be allocated to more severe cases. Learning to live with endemic COVID-19 would also allow Singapore to open its economy and borders.

So, on 30 August 2021, MOH launched a pilot Home Recovery Programme (HRP) for 21 mildly ill COVID-19 patients to recover at home instead of in hospital or CCFs, after ensuring that their household and social conditions were suitable. A small team from MOH served as dedicated Home Recovery Buddies to the patients. This small-scale pilot programme was a success.

But then COVID-19 cases began rising rapidly with the emergence of the more infectious Delta variant. This was a time of high anxiety for Singaporeans as Delta was more virulent than the Alpha, Beta and Gamma variants prevalent up to that time. Those with mild respiratory symptoms rushed to Accident & Emergency departments, and many who feared passing the virus to family members wanted to be housed at CCFs. Fortunately, the number of serious cases requiring oxygen supplementation or Intensive Care Unit (ICU) treatment was mitigated by the population's high vaccination rate. But the high total case count made it urgent to implement Home Recovery as the default mode for COVID-19 patients who were mildly ill.

The programme for home recovery had to be expanded nationwide at short notice, and the MOH team faced difficulties coping with the sudden surge in cases. The public's anxiety and frustration grew when those recovering at home or living with a COVID-19 patient could not get information from the authorities on what they should do. MOH's dedicated hotline could not handle all the daily calls. There were delays in the onboarding and discharge processes for COVID-19 patients. Those who had recovered were still being denied “Safe Entry” to workplaces and public amenities. There was also a growing need to cater to groups with medical and special needs, such as pregnant, paediatric, immunocompromised, disabled and palliative care patients. On top of these problems, the Microsoft Excel and email-based IT systems tracking the transfer of patients to suitable medical facilities could not cope with the increase in cases.