For some individuals here, COVID-19 has been much more than an inconvenience and a matter of adjustment to their daily routines. Many want to ...
SINGAPORE: It first started with a ban on travellers coming in from China. Within weeks, Singapore closed its borders and imposed stay-home or quarantine orders on all residents returning to the country.
Less than four months later, there are now 28,038 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Singapore as of Sunday .The majority of cases in Singapore are foreign workers who have been living in dormitories, whose crowded conditions are now under the spotlight as these have been blamed for causing the high number of infections among the migrant worker community.But with the number of cases among the local community on a downward trend, the authorities here say that the circuit breaker measures are working.
We spoke with several of them who have had to wrestle with the coronavirus’ deleterious impact, and emerge from it with their lives drastically altered. Unfortunately, when Mother’s Day on May 10 came and went this year, all they felt was the huge void left behind with the passing of Ms Noraisah’s mother.
“It’s not like a normal funeral, where you are allowed to talk about the deceased and reminisce … It was very much touch and go,” said the 37-year old. Even then, she had to bathe her mother for the last time while donned in full personal protective equipment . She would be receiving calls from the doctors daily to get updates on the health conditions of her family members, and later her mother. Until today, she still gets the shivers when her phone rings at night.
Two weeks since her mother’s death, Ms Noraisah said her father has been focused on trying to take over some of her mother’s yearly practices during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, such as giving away food hampers to other families and regularly checking in on his wife’s mother and sister. “I have to be strong, like how my mother had been strong for everybody. Once I break, I think will break,” Ms Noraisah said.
For Mr Simon Neo, who was hospitalised at NCID in mid-March after testing positive, it was the chills he felt at his fingertips and toes that were the “most terrifying”. READ: From intensive care to recovery: Singaporean woman who wondered if she was dying from COVID-19 pays tribute to her medical team
While he got emotional after hearing that from the doctor, Mr Phay composed himself and phoned his wife. “When we’re talking about your death or my death, all of a sudden the numbers don’t matter anymore. When everybody sees that they can die, it becomes real,” he said. “Sixteen days in the hospital alone was a killer for me. I had only a small window to look out of. It was tough. I can’t imagine ,” he said.
“I began to question myself, ‘Have I not been taking care of myself? What’s wrong with me? Maybe I’m not a good person that’s why all this is happening,'” he said. During her 25-day stay at Tan Tock Seng Hospital from Apr 2, Dr Teresita Cruz del Rosario said she did a total of 11 swab tests before finally getting her double-negative results.
Dr Teresita Cruz del Rosario said she did a total of 11 swab tests before finally getting her double-negative results. Mr Bambang said he still experiences breathlessness at times, while Dr Cruz del Rosario said she often felt tired and feverish the first week after she was discharged, the same symptoms she had when she first entered the hospital.
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