Coronavirus pandemic

Stay home if you are even a little bit unwell, say experts

Advice follows news that some of the staff in pre-school cluster were at work while sick

Drawing lessons from the cluster at PCF Sparkletots in Fengshan (above), infectious diseases expert Leong Hoe Nam said workplaces should take temperatures thrice a day and hold meetings in an open-air environment.
Drawing lessons from the cluster at PCF Sparkletots in Fengshan (above), infectious diseases expert Leong Hoe Nam said workplaces should take temperatures thrice a day and hold meetings in an open-air environment. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

Infectious diseases experts here are urging people to stay home unless they are "100 per cent" well, following news that some of the staff in the coronavirus cluster at PCF Sparkletots in Fengshan were at work while sick.

Dr Leong Hoe Nam, who practises at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, told The Straits Times: "If you look at the numbers, we're hitting around 70 cases a day. If we do this consecutively for five days, we'd need a new National Centre for Infectious Diseases to hold the patients.

"If this goes on, our whole healthcare system will be overloaded.

"So everyone must play their part, no ifs or buts. If you're even a little bit unwell, please don't go out, stay at home. It's high stakes now."

Professor Paul Tambyah, from the National University of Singapore's Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, agreed.

"Right now when there is a worldwide coronavirus pandemic, it is best to stay home if one does not feel 100 per cent well," he said.

As of yesterday, there were 25 cases of infection in the PCF Fengshan cluster.

The pre-school principal was well when she went to work on March 17 but developed symptoms that afternoon. On that day, she had a meeting with her staff, and attended a course with other pre-school staff in the evening.

Most of the staff from the centre who tested positive for the virus began developing symptoms from March 20.

Nine family members of the principal also tested positive.

Dr Leong said that on average, an individual spreads the virus to only two to three people.

Some, however, will pass the infection to at least five to 10 others.

Citing a recent study on the spread of the coronavirus in Singapore, Prof Tambyah highlighted that 88 per cent of individuals did not transmit the infection to anyone, even when they were not in quarantine.

However, three or four patients would later become the source for some major clusters.

He said: "The vast majority of people do not spread (the virus responsible for Covid-19) to anyone.

"On the other hand, a few individuals become the index patients for large numbers of secondary and tertiary cases."

Both Prof Tambyah and Dr Leong emphasised that it is better to refer to a "super-spreading event", rather than a "super spreader".

The term "super spreader" pins a lot of responsibility and blame on a single individual, while in reality there may be other factors at play.

Dr Leong added: "We shouldn't pin and judge people with retrospective vision. If anyone knew what would happen after a particular action was taken, if they knew it would lead to a spread, they wouldn't have taken it."

There are several lessons to be learnt from the PCF cluster. Noting that the principal developed symptoms only in the afternoon, Dr Leong said workplaces should take temperatures thrice a day.

On the meeting that the principal attended, he added: "It's a good reminder that we ought not to meet if possible. If you have to meet, an open-air environment is preferred to an air-conditioned one."

Those in a meeting room should maintain a 1m to 2m distance from one another, and should declare if they are feeling unwell before joining the meeting. They should also not share food or drinks.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 28, 2020, with the headline Stay home if you are even a little bit unwell, say experts. Subscribe