Natureland Says 5 Staff At East Coast Spa Got Covid-19 After Customer Visited, All Outlets Closed Since 7 Apr

Natureland Spa Says Infected Customer Visited Spa On 19 Mar, 5 Staff Tested Positive Between 9 Apr & 21 Apr

Avid spa-goers may want to know that within the daily update on Covid-19 cases on Friday (24 Apr), nine new clusters were discovered, and one of them was a spa.

Natureland, located at 907 East Coast Road, has now reported six cases of Covid-19, and it’s understandable that those who have visited the spa would feel a bit jittery over potentially being exposed to the virus and want to know all the details.

The company has now revealed that the cluster arose from an infected customer who visited the premises on 19 Mar. Subsequently, five of its staff tested positive for the disease.

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Chronological account of how the spa became a cluster

In a statement posted on its website on Saturday (25 Apr), Natureland, which has seven outlets across Singapore, gave a very detailed chronological account of its battle with Covid-19.

19 Mar: It all began when a customer, who is a Vietnamese Employment Pass holder, visited the East Coast outlet.

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His temperature was taken, but he did not show any symptoms of the disease. The spa has a record of his temperature reading for that day.

30 Mar: One of the staff at the spa fell sick. He was stopped from working and told to stay at home. He was not the therapist that serviced the Vietnamese customer.

1 Apr: The Ministry of Health (MOH) called the spa and told them that the customer had tested positive for Covid-19.

The therapist who serviced that customer was told to stay home till 2 Apr — 14 days after the customer visited the outlet.

7 Apr: The ‘Circuit Breaker’ begin, and the company closed all its outlets as per direction from the Government.

All staff at the East Coast Outlet were placed in quarantine for 14 days.

9 Apr to 21 Apr: The company’s staff were tested for Covid-19, and 5 got positive results. They are:

1. Singaporean, male, in his 50s
2. Thai permanent resident, female, in her 40s
3. Malaysian work-pass holder, male, in his 40s
4. Malaysian work-pass holder, male, in his 40s
5. Chinese work-pass holder, male, in his 40s

10 Apr: According to outlet manager Karen Shum, who was contacted by Channel NewsAsia, all staff started serving a 14-day quarantine from this day.

20 Apr: One of the infected staff members was discharged from hospital.

22 Apr: Another infected staff member was discharged.

Three of the company’s staff are still in hospital, and have mild symptoms.

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East Coast outlet disinfected

After being informed of the infected customer, Natureland’s East Coast outlet was deep-cleaned on 3 Apr, conducted by a cleaning company hired through the MOH.

Another round of disinfection will be conducted at the end of May, before the ‘Circuit Breaker’ is lifted on 1 Jun.

As for its other six outlets, zero cases have been reported, the company said.

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Spa implements stringent measures to guard against virus

As for the measures it took before the case was reported, Natureland said that it had stringent measures to guard against Covid-19. This included:

1. Ensuring staff wash their hands in accordance to World Health Organisation guidelines, with these guidelines placed in all toilets.

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2. Ensuring staff wear surgical masks always since 5 Feb, even before the Government made it compulsory.

3. Sanitisers with 70% alcohol content were carried from staff at all times, and they were placed at public areas.

4. Hourly sanitisation of all outlets was conducted, and room cleaning was stepped up, with disposable sheets, sanitising spray and guide videos for staff.

5. All staff had to take their temperatures at regular intervals, and all customers had to take their temperature upon entry, and note down their particulars to facilitate contact tracing.

6. Safe-distancing guidelines were followed, with the installation of markers and cordoning off of seats to ensure that people keep at least 1m from each other.

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Covid-19 can strike anywhere

We’re glad that Natureland has been forthcoming about what happened, so their customers can be reassured.

While it’s sad that 5 of their staff have fallen ill, more might have been infected if not for the stringent measures put in place.

This reminds us that the virus can strike anywhere, even if people have done their best.

So the best way to protect ourselves is to stay home as much as possible until the ‘Circuit Breaker’ is over.

Featured images adapted from Facebook and Facebook.