Homeless Woman Sits Next To Toa Payoh Lor 8 Market Rubbish Collection Point
Given how transmissible Covid-19 is, quarantine measures have become necessary to prevent widespread clusters and infections.
But what happens when someone doesn’t have an appropriate place where they can isolate themselves?
Recently, a 60-year-old homeless lady who wanders around a hawker centre along Toa Payoh Lorong 8 tested positive for Covid-19.
But as she didn’t have any place to stay, the lady could only ‘isolate’ herself by sitting next to a rubbish collection point.
Homeless lady in Toa Payoh tested positive twice
According to Shin Min Daily News, the 60-year-old lady has been a familiar face around Toa Payoh 8 Hawker Centre for the past 10 years.
Unfortunately, the place is now a Covid-19 cluster with over 30 cases detected there.
Toa Payoh Lor 8 Hawker Centre Closed After Over 30 Covid-19 Cases Detected There
However, as she doesn’t work at the hawker centre, the lady wasn’t scheduled to be tested.
Worried that she could have caught the virus, a resident reportedly passed her an ART self-test kit, which ended up returning a positive result.
The kind Samaritan then brought her to a clinic nearby in hopes of getting a more accurate test.
The lady underwent another ART at the clinic, which turned out positive as well.
Clinic staff advised woman to isolate at home
A staff member at the clinic then advised her to isolate herself at home while waiting for her PCR test results, reported Shin Min Daily News.
However, given that she’s homeless, the lady reportedly sat next to the rubbish collection point next to the hawker centre.
In the end, members of the public reportedly lodged a police report. 2 police officers arrived on the scene at noon yesterday (20 Sep) to communicate with the woman.
A private ambulance was deployed at the site at around 2.30pm. A few minutes later, the ambulance ferried the woman away to an isolation facility.
Lady claims she is fully vaccinated
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, the lady said she was fully vaccinated and was feeling well.
When asked about not having a place to stay, the lady said she doesn’t get along well with her husband and hasn’t returned home for years.
Instead, she had been sleeping at the hawker centre and even bathing at the toilets there.
The 60-year-old lady, however, wasn’t against relocating for her isolation and said she’d comply with the authorities’ arrangement.
Wishing the woman a speedy recovery
Although the woman found herself in a deeply unpleasant situation with no shelter and a positive Covid-19 test, we’re glad that she managed to get help in the end.
It’s heartening to see concerned strangers reaching out to the authorities about the woman’s plight. Otherwise, she could’ve been staying there for a longer time.
Now that the lady can recuperate in a proper isolation facility, we wish her a speedy recovery.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook.Â
