S'pore's oldest Covid-19 survivor, 102, eats durian with son, 73, to celebrate life

Best way to celebrate.

Belmont Lay | June 29, 2020, 02:24 PM

Yap Lay Hong, 102, is Singapore's oldest Covid-19 survivor.

Her miraculous recovery from a potentially lethal illness brought cheer and encouragement at a low point in Singapore's history in May.

To celebrate her successful recuperation, her 73-year-old second son Alan Ho, known as "Ah Beng", visited his mother with durian -- her favourite treat -- at Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home, The Straits Times reported.

Before the pandemic, Ho visited his mother every week with durians or durian puffs as substitute.

Ho's wife would remove the durian flesh from the seeds.

Yap and Ho were greeted on video by ST:

Yap said in Hokkien in the video: "I am very well. Thank you."

Reunion

Mother and son met on June 25 after Singapore entered phase two of its reopening on June 19.

Prior to this meeting, the centenarian had not met her son for almost three months.

Yap was diagnosed with Covid-19 on April 1.

She spent about a month in Tan Tock Seng Hospital and was discharged on May 1.

Yap was among 16 residents and staff at the nursing home who came down with Covid-19 in April.

The formation of this cluster led to a ban on visitors to all nursing and old folks' homes.

Background

Lee Ah Mooi now caps visits to 10 residents per day and each visit is limited to 30 minutes.

In total, three Lee Ah Mooi residents died of Covid-19.

About one in six elderly with Covid-19 in Singapore developed severe symptoms and needed intensive care in hospital.

Yap has five children, 11 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, ST reported.

Top photo via The Straits Times YouTube