S'pore to prepare chalets as quarantine centres for Wuhan coronavirus

The centres will be located at the Heritage Chalet, SAF Changi Chalets and the HomeTeamNS Sembawang Chalets.

Syahindah Ishak | January 25, 2020, 06:08 PM

In an effort to tackle the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, the Ministry of National Development (MND) is preparing a few quarantine centres around Singapore.

Chalets to be used as quarantine centres

The Government Quarantine Facilities (GQFs) will be located at:

  • Heritage chalet
  • Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Changi chalets
  • HomeTeamNS Sembawang Chalets

Responding to queries from Mothership, a MND spokesperson explained that people who are quarantined are not ill, but may have been exposed to the disease and hence, could be infected.

The Government will also ensure that all persons served with quarantine orders (QOs) will be housed in appropriate locations

To prevent them from potentially infecting more people, they have to remain in isolation.

Once the person comes down with symptoms, a QO will be issued to them, this is to compel him/ her to be isolated at a designated place for a specified period of time.

MND added that the chalets will be thoroughly cleaned according to Ministry of Health (MOH)'s guidelines and the rooms will also be taken care of to ensure that they are safe for stay.

Three suspected cases in Singapore

The Straits Times reported that at least three trucks and five cars were spotted delivering items such as coffee powder, Milo and bottles of mineral water to Treehouse Villas @ Changi in Sealand Road on Thursday (Jan. 23) night.

 

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That same night, Singapore confirmed its first case of the Wuhan coronavirus.

The 66-year-old Chinese national had arrived in Singapore from Wuhan on Jan. 20.

He is currently isolated at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and is in stable condition.

Singapore announced two more confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Friday (Jan. 24).

One of them is a 53-year-old female Chinese national.

The third patient, a 37-year-old male Chinese national, is the son of Singapore’s first confirmed Wuhan case.

All three confirmed cases are Wuhan residents.

41 deaths and over 1,280 confirmed cases

As of Jan. 25, China’s National Health Commission confirmed that the death toll has increased to 41, compared to 25 the previous day.

In addition, there are currently over 1,280 confirmed cases in China.

Outside of China, there are 19 confirmed cases.

The other affected countries include Malaysia, France, Australia, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, the United States and Nepal.

 

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Top image via Google Maps.