This article describes the use of a broad suspect case criteria for detecting COVID-19 in the emergency department of one large, hospital in Singapore. Both the initial official case criteria and the broadened case definition, which included patients presenting with acute respiratory disease with no alternative etiology and a history of travel or residence in a country with ongoing local transmission were used with the broadened criteria having higher sensitivity. The broader criterion may increase the numbers of suspected positive cases but can help minimize nosocomial ED transmission.