There are now 30 cases of the novel coronavirus in Singapore.

It was recently confirmed that Case 19, a 28-year-old female Singaporean, was the first reported case due to local human-to-human transmission.

Her family was found to be infected as well.

Her 6-month-old baby was confirmed to have been cared for at home and was not in any infant care facility prior to hospital admission.

Another update to the case was the information that Case 27, Case 19's husband, was a private hire driver.

When the man developed a fever on February 1, he visited the GP clinic the next day.

He was subsequently isolated at NCID on February 4, 2020.

Prior to his isolation, he stayed at his home in Jalan Bukit Merah.

He had also visited Tiong Bahru Plaza, Tiong Bahru Market and Beo Crescent Market and Food Centre.

While it is unclear which company the man worked for, Mothership has reached out to Grab and GoJek, private hire companies that have put in place measures to ensure the livelihoods.

Rental fee waiver for private hire drivers on quarantine

On Feb. 1, a tripartite care package was announced by the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) for taxi and private hire drivers placed on quarantine due to the nCoV.

Gojek, Grab, Ryde and their fleet partners have agreed to come on board to provide rental fee waiver for quarantined drivers.

For Grab, these measures include vehicle rental waivers, one-time allowance of up to S$500 as well as incentive programme adjustments to mitigate the impact from any loss of income due to the quarantine period.

According to The Straits Times, Gojek drivers with their driver benefits programme get earnings protection of $1,000 if they are quarantined, or more if they are quarantined for more than 14 days.

These measures are provided in addition to the S$100 per day allowance for self-employed person from the Singapore Government and NTUC’s Tripartite Care Package.

MOH states that the risk of infection from transient contact, such as on public transport or in public places, is low.

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