SINGAPORE – Raffles Medical Group (RMG) is investigating the source of a photo that shows the identity card of a patient who was allegedly a suspected Wuhan virus case and a letter from its clinic referring him to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Messages circulating on various platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp with the photo had claimed that the suspected case was detected at a Raffles clinic at Causeway Point in Woodlands on Monday afternoon (Jan 27).
The messages, whose origin is unknown, had warned Woodlands residents to avoid Causeway Point as a result of the suspected case.
The messages also claimed that the patient had visited another clinic at Woodlands Mart, a neighbourhood centre at Block 768, Woodlands Avenue 6..
When The Straits Times visited both clinics flagged in the posts on Tuesday morning (Jan 28), both were open for business and taking in patients.
Raffles Medical Group said on Tuesday afternoon (Jan 28) that it is aware of the online posts, but did not comment on whether the patient was suspected to have the Wuhan virus.
NEW BRUNSWICK, United States – Johnson & Johnson chief executive Alex Gorsky on Monday (Jan 27) faced questions from plaintiffs lawyers over the timing of his sale of company stock, as he testified for the first time in a jury trial over allegations that the company’s Baby Powder causes cancer.
Gorsky told the jury that he had sold company shares in November 2018, two days after a Reuters reporter contacted the company and summarized in an email her review of documents that showed J&J knew small amounts of asbestos had been found in its talc on occasion since 1971.
Gorsky testified that he was not shown the email from the Reuters reporter at the time of the stock sale.
On Dec 14, 2018, Reuters published the story that showed J&J had failed to disclose that small amounts of asbestos, a known carcinogen, had sometimes been found in its talc over several decades. After the Reuters report was published, a selloff wiped out more than US$40 billion (S$54.3 billion) from the company’s market value.
At the time, J&J dismissed the Reuters’ report as “an absurd conspiracy theory.”
SINGAPORE: Robust measures have been put into place to ensure that children in pre-schools are given adequate protection during the Wuhan virus outbreak, said Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee on Tuesday (Jan 28).
Speaking to reporters after a visit to a My First Skool centre in Buangkok where he observed the implementation of additional steps which the pre-school had put in place, Mr Lee stressed the importance of such initiatives as well as the measures which the Government has already taken to help students and teachers.
Among the steps implemented by the My First Skool centre is having temperatures taken for parents as they drop off their children.
“These are measures which are needed to ensure the well-being of our children and pre-school staff,” he said.
“Yesterday we also announced (the implementation of) a leave of absence for children in pre-schools as well as pre-school staff who have visited China in the last 14 days and moving forward.”
He added: “This is again a stepped-up precautionary measure because in pre-schools and these other social facilities we have more vulnerable communities like young children, elderly, persons with disabilities and so on.
“For parents, please be assured that we have robust measures in place; we are working closely with our pre-school operators.”
As of Jan 27, five cases of the Wuhan virus have been confirmed in Singapore. The deadly virus has killed at least 106 people in China so far, with more than 4,000 confirmed cases.
A child on the way to being dropped off at a My First Skool centre at Buangkok. (Photo: Matthew Mohan)
My First Skool, which has more than 140 centres islandwide, has rolled out measures such as increased cleaning of facilities, as well as increased frequency of temperature taking to safeguard students and staff, said general manager Ms Thian Ai Ling.
“On a daily basis, we’ve always paid close attention to personal hygiene,” said Ms Thian.
“Given the current situation, what we have stepped up is an additional layer of temperature taking as well as (during) multiple periods throughout the day, we are closely watching our children’s well-being, ensuring that they do not show any symptoms.
“Should they do, we will contact parents immediately.”
When reporters visited a My First Skool centre at Buangkok on Tuesday, staff wearing surgical masks were observed taking the temperatures of parents and children upon their arrival outside the centre.
The hands of parents and children were also sanitised before they entered the premises.
In addition, staff members also made sure to check on the travel history of students and their parents, in the event that they did not complete a travel declaration which was sent last week.
As a whole, further steps could be required down the road should the situation change, Mr Lee added.
“The situation is fluid and evolving, the Government will look at the available information and evidence, look at the international guidelines and we may need to take further steps as the situation evolves,” he said.
For now, parents reporters spoke to said they were generally satisfied with the precautions taken at the centre at Buangkok.
“Even on normal days where there’s a typical outbreak like hand,foot and mouth (disease), they would already have taken extra measures for that to ensure that the kids are safe,” said Mr Lee Tai Yun, who was dropping off his 3-year-old daughter.
“So I’m pretty sure that this is just another day in their lives to try and control (the situation).”
However, there are also concerns that others might not have not been upfront about their travel history.
“Not only parents but relatives as well, as we do not know whether the (other) children might have relatives who came back from China.” said Mdm Janani Rajendran.
“I was considering keeping my child at home because we don’t know what are the odds.”
Another parent, Mr Zulfadli Abdullah, said that he had no qualms sending his son to the centre after the Chinese New Year holidays.
“Right now we have these measures in place, and if something were to happen, I would expect more measures. So it’s a first step,” he said.
“At the moment, with the information that we have, I think what they are doing is actually quite good.”
SINGAPORE – A woman whose then domestic helper was caught on camera in 2017 cleaning a second-storey glass awning was acquitted on Tuesday (Jan 28) of failing to provide a safe working environment for the Filipina.
Following a trial, District Judge Salina Ishak gave Australian Belinda Huber, alias Belinda Tran, 37, a discharge amounting to an acquittal for the offence under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.
Those given such a discharge cannot be charged again with the same offence.
In giving her verdict, Judge Salina said she did not find the testimony of the maid, Ms Taculad Rose Mae Mata, to be “unusually convincing”.
Ms Huber is a director of Huber’s, the parent company of Huber’s Butchery.
She was all smiles on Tuesday when she found out about the judge’s decision.
She told reporters outside the courtroom: “I’m very relieved that justice has prevailed.”
She had claimed trial to one count of failing to provide a safe working environment for Ms Mata between early June and July 4, 2017.
SINGAPORE – Allocated government quarantine facilities in Singapore – such as chalets and university hostels – can accommodate about 1,000 people, should there be a need to do so.
At a press conference on Monday morning (Jan 27), Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said hostels at three universities have been designated as government quarantine facilities.
“I apologised to the students for the inconvenience and seek their understanding. This is part of our national response. I think as part of this national response, we just want to get the facilities ready,” he said.
“We hope it won’t happen but should there be more contact tracing and more confirmed cases, we will need the facilities.”
The affected student quarters include some of the blocks at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Prince George’s Park Residences, the Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) Graduate Hall 1, and the Singapore Management University’s (SMU) Prinsep Street Residences.
Mr Ong said he did not have the exact number of students affected by the move.
Quek Siu Rui has not taken a holiday in nearly eight years.
Since he co-founded Carousell in 2012, almost all of the 32-year-old’s free time has been devoted to thinking about what is next, he said. “I have this almost extreme view of the world where [if you do something] you’ve got to do it well and good. You’ve got to be laser-focused and almost obsessed about it.”
As the face of one of Singapore’s most prominent start-ups – widely recognised as a pioneer in mobile classifieds – it comes as little surprise that Quek is almost constantly working. On weekends, he often has to remind himself not to send emails to employees, he said, admitting that he has wished the weekend would pass more quickly so his workweek could begin again.
So when asked what he would like to do as part of this interview series, where a Post journalist interacts with tech CEOs over an activity of their choice, Quek opted to go hiking – an activity he used to enjoy but has not had much time to indulge in.
When the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) hit Singapore in 2003, taxi drivers rejected passengers going to hospitals, companies hastily formulated plans to let staff work from home, and some people lost their jobs.
The viral respiratory disease infected 238 people here and killed 33, including doctors and nurses.
Memories of those dark days have been flooding back lately with the outbreak of the Wuhan virus.
Sars arrived here after three Singaporean women returned from holidaying in Hong Kong in February 2003. They were hospitalised for pneumonia between March 1 and 3.
Two recovered without infecting anyone, but one of them infected 22 close friends and family.
She was dubbed by officials as “super-infector No. 1”.
Her parents and pastor, who contracted the disease while visiting her in hospital, later died.
Recalling how worried Singaporeans were during that period, sales support analyst, Mr Mohd Ali Khan, 37, said: “I remember sitting in the MRT and there was an elderly man in front of me.
He coughed and I could see the fear on the other passengers’ faces.
SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed a fifth case of Wuhan coronavirus infection in Singapore.
The patient is a 56-year-old female Chinese national from Wuhan who arrived in Singapore with her family on Jan 18.
The case was confirmed at 2pm on Monday (Jan 27), said MOH.
The patient was asymptomatic during the flight to Singapore.
She subsequently developed symptoms on Friday and was conveyed by ambulance to Tan Tock Seng Hospital on Sunday. She was classified as a suspect case and immediately isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).
Subsequent test results confirmed Wuhan virus infection on Monday, said MOH. She has no known links to the other confirmed imported cases.
Before being admitted to hospital, the patient stayed with her family at their home in Ceylon Road.
Since the onset of symptoms on Friday, she had remained in her home until she was brought to the hospital on Sunday, MOH said.
She is currently warded in an isolation room at the NCID and her condition is stable.
SINGAPORE: A fifth case of the Wuhan virus has been confirmed in Singapore, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement on Monday night (Jan 27).
The confirmed case is a 56 year-old female Chinese national from Wuhan who arrived in Singapore with her family on Jan 18, the authority said on Monday.
“She is currently warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and her condition is stable,” MOH said.
The woman was “asymptomatic” during her flight to Singapore, MOH said, adding that she later developed symptoms on Jan 24 and was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital on Jan 26.
She was then classified as a suspect case and immediately isolated at NCID. “Subsequent test results confirmed Wuhan coronavirus infection on Jan 27,” said MOH.
The ministry added that she has no known links to the other confirmed imported cases.
MOH said as of Monday at noon, 62 of the suspect cases tested negative for the Wuhan coronavirus, and four tested positive. The fifth case involving the 56 year-old female was confirmed at 2pm.
Test results for the remaining 57 cases are pending, the health authority said.
MOH also identified 115 close contacts from the first four confirmed cases as of Monday at noon. Of the 86 who are still in Singapore, 75 have been contacted and are being quarantined or isolated.
The authority added efforts are ongoing to contact the remaining 11 close contacts.
“Contact tracing for the confirmed cases is ongoing. Once identified, MOH will closely monitor all close contacts,” MOH explained.
“As a precautionary measure, they will be quarantined for 14 days from their last exposure to the patient.
“In addition, all other identified contacts who have a low risk of being infected will be under active surveillance, and will be contacted daily to monitor their health status.”
SINGAPORE – With the death toll from the Wuhan virus jumping, and over 2,000 people infected so far, Singapore’s multi-ministry task force set up to fight the infectious disease on all fronts here is implementing new measures, from compulsory leave for some people returning from China, to enhanced screening and checks, in efforts to prevent the virus from taking hold in the country.
For one, Singaporeans are now advised to avoid non-essential travel to mainland China.
And from Wednesday (Jan 29), temperature screening at airports will cover all incoming flights, with additional scrutiny on all flights from mainland China, and checks on all passengers with Hubei passports.
There are also measures in place for workers and students returning from mainland China.
Individuals with travel history to China in the last 14 days will have to give health and travel declarations to their respective organisations, and do health monitoring with temperature checks twice a day for 14 days from their return.
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