RWS: Casino employee did not serve VIP guests from Wuhan prior to coronavirus infection

He is the second Resort World Sentosa employee there to be infected.

Zhangxin Zheng | February 12, 2020, 10:05 PM

Update: RWS has confirmed that the claim made by an unnamed employee that Lianhe Wanbao spoke to is false:

"RWS has investigated this claim and found it to be false. At no time did this 35-year-old RWS croupier serve Wuhan guests in the gaming salon in the few days prior to displaying symptoms."

A 35-year-old Singapore permanent resident was confirmed to be infected by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) on Feb. 11.

He is the second Resort World Sentosa (RWS) employee found infected by Covid-19.

Previously a 54-year-old Singapore citizen who was confirmed on Feb. 9 to be infected also worked at RWS.

Allegedly went to work on Feb. 9 despite having a fever

In a report by Lianhe Wanbao on Feb. 12, the Chinese evening paper said it understands that the man had a fever and took medical leave on Feb. 5 and 6.

Following the two days of rest, the infected man went back to work at the casino on Feb. 9 night and he was detected to be feverish upon temperature screening.

According to Wanbao, an unnamed casino employee said that the man had been working at the casino for at least five years and had been serving visitors from Wuhan in the VIP room.

Wanbao further claimed that the employee said that there were many guests from Wuhan and they arrived before Chinese New Year, which was before the lockdown of the city.

These guests, said the Chinese paper, stayed in Resort World Sentosa and would frequent the casino.

Wanbao further reported that that the infected man would ride a motorcycle back and forth Johor Bahru and Singapore everyday, so it was unlikely for him to have been infected from his daily commute.

The Wanbao reporter also observed that there are two separate entrances to the casino.

The staff entrance is in the basement two car park area, while visitors enter via basement one.

A Parkway Shenton clinic near the staff entrance has been closed for deep cleansing from Feb. 11 to Feb. 13.

First RWS staff confirmed to be infected

The first person working in the RWS also reported onset of symptoms on Feb. 5, and sought treatment at a general practitioner (GP) clinic on Feb. 9.

The man was then transferred to Tan Tock Seng Hospital via an ambulance on the same day, and was immediately isolated.

Subsequent test results confirmed the coronavirus infection on the afternoon of Feb. 10.

Prior to hospital admission, he had gone to work at Resorts World Sentosa.

He is currently warded in the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).

Image from Wikipedia/By Wpcpey