Even though the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic rages on, Singapore has been consistently seeing a relatively low number of community cases.
On Monday (22 Feb), the sole community case involved the husband of a previously-infected SIA cabin crew member.
However, what was most troubling is that he had reportedly experienced Covid-19 symptoms during his quarantine, but did not declare them to the authorities.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) reminds all individuals to be socially responsible and report any symptoms, regardless if it is early or mild.
As a close contact of an earlier Covid-19 case, the 43-year-old man was placed on quarantine from 9 Feb, reported Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
Source
On 15 Feb, 6 days into his quarantine, the man lost his sense of smell but did not report this to MOH.
5 days later, he developed a fever and decided to self-medicate. He once again failed to inform MOH about it.
However, his Covid-19 test on the next day returned positive.
Source
His serological test was negative, suggesting that it is a current infection, reported The Straits Times (ST).
The man’s wife, a 41-year-old SIA cabin crew member, had preliminarily tested positive for the more contagious B117 strain on 9 Feb.
According to ST, she too experienced Covid-19 symptoms like loss of smell prior to testing positive and did not report it.
Several days before her positive swab test, she received her first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Currently, the man is pending his test results for the B117 strain of the coronavirus.
In their statement on Monday (22 Feb), MOH says that individuals on quarantine or SHN have to declare any symptoms immediately.
They are also required to report their health status to the ministry daily.
At the beginning of their quarantine, all individuals are reportedly given a list of Covid-19 symptoms to look out for and instructions on how to report them.
MOH reminds individuals to act responsibly by declaring their symptoms swiftly, even if they are just starting out or mild.
Strict protocols and measures are put in place for individuals in quarantine and SHN to prevent the local spread of Covid-19.
We hope the case in question serves as a reminder of why it’s important to do so.
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