Mr Chung Ah Lay fought for his life for 27 straight days and, during that time, his daughter Ashley would get an hourly call about her father's condition, almost daily, from the doctor caring for him.

"Because we couldn't see our Dad, this doctor would call us personally to update us," said Ms Chung, 43. "We were really appreciative and touched by that. She's a real hero," added the corporate trainer.

Her father died from complications owing to coronavirus infection on Sunday afternoon. He was the third person to succumb to the virus in Singapore.

Mr Chung, 70, had a history of hypertension and high cholesterol. He had not travelled recently to affected countries or regions.

He was admitted to Singapore General Hospital on Feb 29 and was confirmed to have Covid-19 on March 2.

He spent 27 days in the intensive care unit (ICU), but developed serious complications and died.

In that time, Mr Chung was cared for by a team of doctors and nurses from various departments. Among them was Dr Yvonne Chia May Fen, a medical officer at the department of respiratory and critical care medicine.

"She was by my father's side all the time during that one month. After he died, she told us that even in his last moments, my father didn't give up," said Ms Chung.

When contacted, Dr Chia told The Straits Times she empathised with the family's feelings of loss and uncertainty as they were unable to visit their father in the ICU.

"In the midst of caring for the patient in front of us, we sometimes forget the family behind the patient and I hoped that through my attempt at narrating Mr Chung's condition, it could allay any anxiety they may have had, and help his family journey through this difficult period together," she said.

Mr Chung leaves his wife, three children aged between 33 and 43, and five grandchildren aged between one and 11.

The family told The Straits Times after his funeral yesterday that he was a kind, introverted and happy-go-lucky man. The former owner of OK Yong Tau Foo in Mosque Street "did a lot for the family", said one of his nieces.

Just before he was hospitalised, Mr Chung worked at Japanese restaurant Fish Mart Sakuraya.

Ms Chung, the eldest of the three children, recalled that on March 12, the Ministry of Health allowed her to visit her father on compassionate grounds, even though she was under a quarantine order, as his condition had deteriorated.

Soon after, Mr Chung underwent a trial of vitamin C intravenous infusion and his condition improved slightly. But it worsened again on March 24 and Mr Chung took his last breath on Sunday - only hours after a cross match for his O+ blood type was found for him to undergo plasma therapy that might have improved his chances of survival.

The treatment makes use of the antibodies against the coronavirus that recovered patients may have developed. It was introduced in China with some success in treating critically ill Covid-19 patients.

Earlier last month, Ms Chung made a public appeal for recovered Covid-19 patients to donate their blood for the plasma therapy treatment. She also asked the authorities to let her father receive that treatment.

Despite their sorrow, she and her family are grateful to all the healthcare workers who had helped to look after her father.

"We are really thankful that we had them on the journey with us, and we know they did their best for him," she said.

She added: "People have been so overwhelmingly compassionate towards us. This crisis has really been a test of human compassion."