Just as we pray for more zero-confirm-case days, a new confirmed case has just been announced.
Yesterday (27 January 2020) at about 2pm, MOH confirmed another imported case of the Wuhan virus in Singapore.
And unlike other patients who were tourists and stayed in hotels, this latest patient had stayed with her family in a Singapore residence since she arrived in Singapore.
Here’s what happened.
5th Wuhan Virus Case Confirmed in S’pore; Patient Has Been in S’pore for 10 Days
On 18 January 2020, about five days before the first Wuhan virus patient was identified in Singapore, a 56-year-old female Chinese national from Wuhan had landed in Singapore with her family.
As she did not have any symptoms, she passed the temperature screening.
The patient’s family lives in a home at Ceylon Road, which is located somewhere in Marine Parade, and so the patient lives with her family during her stay.
Just so you know, the area is filled mainly with landed property and not HDB.
It’s unknown if her family worked or studied in Singapore.
The patient had only developed symptoms on 24 January 2020, which is Chinese New Year eve. She was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital two days later (on 26 January 2020) via an ambulance and was immediately classified as a suspect case and isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).
The next day (which is yesterday), test results confirmed that she carried the virus.
She has no known link to the other four imported cases in Singapore, and ever since she arrived in Singapore, she had remained in her house throughout until she was taken to the hospital.
Lest you’re not aware, the incubation period of the Wuhan virus is 1 to 14 days; in layman’s term, it meant that some infected people might take up to 14 days before the first symptom appeared. Unfortunately, during those symptom-free days, he or she is still infectious.
MOH has initiated epidemiological investigations and contact tracing to identify individuals who had close contact with her.
Singapore Status as of 27 January 2020, 12pm
As of 27 January 2020 noon, there are 57 cases that are pending.
MOH is still doing contact tracing for the first four confirmed cases. There are 115 of them, and 86 of them are still in Singapore. 75 of them have been contacted and are being quarantined or isolated.
MOH is still trying to contact the other 11 close contacts.
In the meantime, let’s our part and follow these advice (we’re going to repeat this so much that you should be able to memorise them soon):
- Avoid contact with live animals including poultry and birds, and consumption of raw and undercooked meats;
- Avoid close contact with people who are unwell or showing symptoms of illness;
- Observe good personal hygiene;
- Practise frequent hand washing with soap (e.g. before handling food or eating, after going to toilet, or when hands are dirtied by respiratory secretions after coughing or sneezing);
- Wear a mask if you have respiratory symptoms such as a cough or shortness of breath;
- Cover your mouth with a tissue paper when coughing or sneezing, and dispose the soiled tissue paper in the rubbish bin immediately; and
- Seek medical attention promptly if you are feeling unwell.
Remember, you can contribute to the victory on the battle against Wuhan virus just by doing your small part that history will be remembered as a big contribution.
(That’s what I thought about my contribution to the SARS outbreak)
You can read more about the latest Wuhan virus updates in MOH’s website.
