SINGAPORE: A 27-year-old Singaporean woman who was confirmed as Singapore’s 70th case of COVID-19 on Saturday (Feb 15) had close contact with three colleagues, but did not go to work after developing symptoms, said her employer HipVan.
The patient is a full-time employee in HipVan’s merchandising department, a HipVan spokesperson said. According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), she went to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) on Feb 14, after seeking treatment at a general practitioner clinic on Feb 3.
She had flu-like symptoms from Feb 3 to Feb 7, and was on medical leave that week, said the HipVan spokesperson in response to CNA queries.
The patient went back to work from Feb 10 to Feb 12 after recovering and did not exhibit any symptoms.
But she felt unwell again on Feb 13 and was told to work from home. She did not come in to work after that, said the spokesperson.
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The patient did not have any close contact with any clients or partners in the last two weeks, but did have close contact with three colleagues who are now under home quarantine, the spokesperson added.
The three other employees have also been advised by MOH to take the necessary precautions to limit contact with their families, she said.
“Besides the three colleagues that have close contact with the patient, our management team has also taken additional precautionary measures by getting all the staff that work from our Kallang office to work from home until further notice,” said the spokesperson.
“We are also currently assisting MOH personnel with daily phone monitoring of all of our staff and so far, no other staff has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.”
HipVan said it will also be working with the Health Ministry to disinfect its Kallang office and close its showroom to visitors until disinfection has been completed.
“In addition, we would also like the public to know that our warehouse and delivery teams, managed by third-party service providers, work out of a different location in Tuas, and have had no close contact with the patient in the past weeks,” said the spokesperson.
The patient, Case 70, is a family member of Case 66, linked to the Grace Assembly of God cluster. She stays at Mei Hwan Drive and had attended church services at God’s Kingdom Bread of Life Church prior to hospital admission, said MOH on Sunday.
On Sunday, Singapore confirmed three new cases of COVID-19, including a Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) regular serviceman, bringing the total number of cases here to 75. There have been 18 confirmed cases linked to the Grace Assembly of God cluster so far.
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