Ong Ye Kung Steadily Recovering From Dengue Fever, Thanks Public For Well Wishes

Ong Ye Kung Urges Singaporeans To Take Precautions As It’s Dengue Season

The hectic job of Singapore’s Health Minister would include being on top of all things related to the well-being of Singaporeans, especially during a pandemic.

However, some may forget that a minister is also human and is subject to sickness himself.

Unfortunately, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung contracted dengue fever a few days ago but is thankfully steadily recovering.

He thanked the public for their well wishes in response to his announcement.

Ong Ye Kung diagnosed with dengue after suffering muscle aches

Mr Ong confirmed his diagnosis in a Facebook post on Friday (15 Apr), saying the muscle aches started last Saturday (9 Apr).

Initially, he thought he’d overexerted while exercising, but the aches persisted.

Thinking it might be Covid-19, he also took several Antigen Rapid Tests (ART), but they all turned out negative.

On Thursday (14 Apr), rashes appeared on Mr Ong’s arms and body, so he decided to take a blood test. The result showed that he had contracted dengue.

He suspected this happened “several days ago”, not elaborating on the exact date or what he was doing at the time.

He somehow endured illness

Though the news could’ve been distressing, the doctor had good news too. The minister had “somehow endured through the illness”.

That’s because while his platelet count was slightly lower than normal, it was actually “not too bad”, Mr Ong said.

Thus, he could already be on the way to recovery and just has to keep hydrated.

Ong Ye Kung urges public to take precautions during dengue season

Mr Ong warned us that it’s now dengue season and urged the public to take precautions.

That includes getting rid of stagnant water at home and using sprays or swatters to keep Aedes mosquitoes at bay.

He added that the pests breed in clean water, usually in homes, balconies and corridors.

Dengue cases rising sharply

According to the National Environment Agency (NEA), the number of weekly dengue cases in Singapore is continuing to rise sharply.

A total of 3,981 dengue cases have been reported so far in 2022 – and it’s only April.

As a comparison, only about 2,700 cases were recorded in the first five months of 2021.

Last week alone (3 to 9 Apr), there were a whopping 646 new dengue cases – 137 more than the previous week. The number of active clusters also increased by 24 to 143.

This week (10 to 14 Apr), 515 cases have been recorded so far, said the NEA.

Ong attended event on Sat

Mr Ong happens to be one of these new cases, it seems, and he said he would “take it easy” during the long weekend.

His post drew 1,200 comments, mostly from netizens wishing him a speedy recovery.

Despite saying he would take it easy, however, he attended the launch of an SG Cares Volunteer Centre in Sembawang on Saturday (16 Apr), looking well.

In a Facebook post on the same day, the minister said he was “steadily recovering”.

Thanking those who wished him well, he revealed that his platelet count was almost normal, just 2 days after his last test.

Timely reminder of dengue threat

Hopefully, the Health Minister contracting dengue will remind Singaporeans that there’s another threat going around besides Covid-19.

Thus, amid the worrying surge in dengue, we’ll do well to take his advice and take the necessary precautionary measures.

MS News wishes Mr Ong a speedy recovery.