Update (18 May): Sengkang General Hospital (SKH) provided updates on Monday (18 May) on the case.
In a Facebook post, SKH said that the nurse in question has since lodged a police report over the incident.
SKH also urged members of the public to treat medical personnel with respect so they can continue “giving their best” during these trying times.
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Frontliners – including nurses and essential workers – are risking their lives to keep us safe & to keep society going during the Covid-19 outbreak. That’s why it’s heartbreaking to hear of conflicts between individuals for circumstances that are beyond their control.
A nurse’s Instagram post claimed that his neighbour had allegedly been calling him various names upon returning home, and the unfolding situation even affected his daughter — who was “sprayed” with hand sanitiser.
We summarise the story below. Hopefully, both families will come to a peaceful resolution soon.
The writer – who says he works as a nurse – shared that for 5 years, the family had gotten along with their neighbours. His 5-year-old daughter and a wife who’s an essential worker live with him in the apartment.
Since the Covid-19 outbreak, however, the 2 families have allegedly been in a dispute over the man’s profession.
According to the post, his neighbours had begun calling them various names as soon as any family member arrives at their doorstep.
Incidents like name-calling and spraying of hand sanitiser also allegedly involved the 5-year-old child’s grandparents.
In one particularly heartbreaking video, his daughter tries to shield her face from the spraying.
The netizen shares that they’ve also encountered “spitting”, and being called “virus family”, on separate occasions.
In this detailed account, the nurse’s wife describes how her daughter is now “traumatised” and is “afraid” to go out.
The nurse has uploaded a series of videos on Instagram which you can view here.
In the clips, the word “virus” is repeated several times. Further along into the clips, there does seem to be the spraying of an unidentified liquid.
The video is captioned,
What happen to “clap for frontliners” and the song “Home”?? This is the reality frontliners face now.
He shares that this happens every time anyone from the family gets home.
This dispute has adversely affected the nurse’s 5-year-old daughter, for whom treatment was sought, shared the family.
The writer shares that after his daughter was “sprayed” with “Dettol” and some of it came in contact with her face, the family decided to make a police report.
Unfortunately, the police told them to lodge a magistrate’s report as authorities were unable to take action without a court order.
Finally, the family shares that they’re hesitant to take this case further as both families will remain neighbours in the long-run.
Despite several public calls to treat frontliners with respect, it’s sad to hear about cases like this. Do note that this is still an ongoing case and represents one side of the story.
We’ve reached out to the relevant authorities to clarify on what else can be done to prevent similar situations.
Most of all, we hope that both families will be able to resolve their differences soon.
Featured image adapted from Instagram & Instagram.
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