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SINGAPORE (Reuters) – After a coronavirus outbreak began to disrupt lives and activity in Singapore late in January, Conceicao Edwin Philip keeps himself ready to rush to hospital at a moment’s notice, if summoned.
Philip is not a doctor or nurse, but his work, using a telephone to question patients separated from him by two glass walls, has become crucial in the Asian city-state’s fight on the virus, which has caused 187 infections in Singapore.
As one of a team of contact tracers, Philip, 31, swings into action as soon as virus patients are diagnosed, to piece together the jigsaw of their prior movements and contacts.
“We have to drop everything, scramble and figure out where these patients have been,” said Philip, an employee of Singapore General Hospital (SGH), who wore spectacles and a bowtie.
He typically tries to jog patients’ memories by asking them about their meals, all the way from breakfast to supper.
“Because once they can remember who they sat down with for a meal, that would give a rough estimate of the number of people in their surroundings, and they can usually remember what they did,” Philip added.
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