Coronavirus outbreak

Contact tracing: A test of patience and perseverance

Police officers, analysts comb through CCTV footage and interview people to find links

Senior Staff Sergeant Mohamad Shapie Saleh (left) and Sergeant Loh Seng Hong showing how they would conduct interviews in the field. Officers use their usual investigative methods to hunt down close contacts - analysing surveillance footage and speak
Senior Staff Sergeant Mohamad Shapie Saleh (left) and Sergeant Loh Seng Hong showing how they would conduct interviews in the field. Officers use their usual investigative methods to hunt down close contacts - analysing surveillance footage and speaking to people on the ground to find individuals. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
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His brief was simple. Identify and find a passenger who had taken a taxi whose driver had Covid-19.

But all Senior Staff Sergeant Mohamad Shapie Saleh had to go on were that the passenger had alighted in Chai Chee Road and a blurry photo, obtained from a different police team, that gave him a rough idea of the man's attire.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 09, 2020, with the headline Contact tracing: A test of patience and perseverance. Subscribe