In the evening of Feb. 17, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced two new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), bringing the total number of cases in the country to 77.
Patient 76 is a one-year-old baby who was evacuated from Wuhan city on Feb. 9.
Patient 77 is a 35-year-old Singaporean man who works at the office building of Ngee Ann City's Tower A.
According to MOH, patient 77 is a contact of patient 50, a 62-year-old DBS employee who first tested positive for the virus on Feb. 12.
Patient 77 is DBS employee who is based in bank's satellite office
In response to Mothership's query, DBS bank has confirmed that patient 77 is a staff member who is based in the bank's satellite office at Ngee Ann City.
According to them, patient 77 was a first-degree contact of patient 50 and had been placed under quarantine as of last week - before he was diagnosed.
He is currently being warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).
A spokesperson also said that the bank is "rendering every support to him and his family during this period," in addition to taking the same precautions as with case 50 and identifying those who were in close contact with him.
“We have a framework for contact tracing, which we execute through a mix of physical interviews and data analytics. Through this, we are able to contact-trace up to three degrees of separation,” she added.
Affected employees have been receiving support from the bank
DBS has emphasised that they regard the health and well-being of their staff and customers with utmost priority and that they will "continue to monitor the situation closely".
“Affected employees have been receiving support from the bank including having basic grocery packs delivered to them. A medical helpline, webinars as well as virtual doctors are additional resources that have been put in place for all employees,” the spokesperson added.
The satellite office has also been deep cleaned according to MOH and National Environment Agency (NEA) guidelines.
Affected floor and office space at Ngee Ann City disinfected and deep cleaned
In an internal circular on Feb. 17, the management of Ngee Ann City shared the news with all tenants at Ngee Ann City that the case was confirmed at 12pm on the same day.
The management stated that the affected floor and office space will be disinfected and deep cleaned. This includes common spaces such as the toilets and lifts.
On top of the deep cleaning processes in the immediate area and common area, “special cleaning and disinfection” have also been carried out in surrounding areas as a precaution, the management added.