Singtel Staff Tests Positive For Covid-19 Yesterday, Telco Disinfects Affected Floor Overnight

Singtel Staff Tested Positive For Covid-19 On 5 Mar Night

UPDATE (8.57pm, 6 Mar): Ministry of Health confirmed that the infected Singtel staff is among today’s 13 new cases. He is identified as case 119.

UPDATE (1.45pm, 6 Mar): A Singtel spokesperson has responded to our query, saying the telco is currently trying to identify all parties who came into close contact with the employee

The company has also increased the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting efforts after the case was confirmed. You can read their statement in full below.

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Singtel confirmed on Friday (6 Mar) that one of its employees has been confirmed with Covid-19.

The staff in question apparently works at the Comcentre in Somerset.

Source

As a precautionary measure, the company has cordoned off the level where the patient was working on.

The telco has also disinfected the level overnight.

Singtel staff last reported for work on 26 Feb

According to Lianhe Zaobao, the Singtel staff tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday (5 Mar) night and is currently being treated at an undisclosed hospital.

The patient in question works at the Comcentre located at Somerset. His job scope wasn’t mentioned in the report.

He last reported for work last Wednesday (26 Feb) and was subsequently on medical leave.

It appears this is one of the new cases that wasn’t covered in the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) press release yesterday. More information is likely to be released tonight.

20th floor of Comcentre closed off

Singtel has since closed off the 20th floor of the building — presumably the level where the patient worked at.

They have also engaged MOH-approved cleaning staff to disinfect the floor overnight.

Other employees who work on the same floor were also told to work from home for the next 14 days. They were also told to closely monitor their health.

SingTel confirms news of infected staff

SingTel has responded to our query. Here’s their full statement:

We regret to inform that one of our colleagues was diagnosed with COVID-19 last night. He is currently in hospital receiving treatment and we are supporting him and his family in every way we can.

Our immediate priority has been to manage and minimise the risk of infection at Singtel Comcentre I where our colleague worked on level 20. He was last in office on 26 February before going on medical leave. We have closed off level 20 and an MOH-approved cleaning crew was brought in overnight to conduct a thorough cleaning and disinfection of the entire floor.

Meanwhile, those working on the same floor have been instructed to work from home for 14 days, closely monitor for symptoms and practice strict social distancing while contact tracing is conducted in tandem with MOH. We are moving as fast as we can to ensure all parties who have been in close contact with our affected colleague can be identified swiftly.

While this is unfortunate news, our team segregation and workplace diversity measures have been strictly practiced since DORSCON Orange was announced. This is designed to manage the risk of infection while ensuring minimal disruption to our business operations. Our BCP plans also include strict travel bans and declaration requirements besides stringent visitor controls. We have imposed a higher frequency of cleaning and disinfection of all office premises which are equipped with temperature screening and sanitisers. We will continue to stay vigilant to protect the health and well-being of our staff.

Hope employee did not come into close contact with any of his colleagues

We hope the patient in question did not come into close contact with any of his colleagues after he contracted the disease.

That aside, we are also heartened by the company’s effort in curbing the spread of the virus.

This is a breaking story, we will update this story once more information is known. 

Featured image adapted from Calvery Carpentry.