Wuhan man: I'm going to take dad to eat bak kut teh

When Mr Wang, a tourist from China, was admitted to hospital on Jan 24, he only had a slight cough, but felt well otherwise.

Over the next few weeks, the cough persisted, but the 37-year-old Chinese national did not have any other symptoms such as a runny nose or fever.

Tests had shown, however, that he was infected with the coronavirus despite the mild symptoms.

"It was quite similar to having a cold, and for my case, it felt less severe than a cold," the Wuhan native said in an interview in Mandarin with the media yesterday.

"When I have a cold, I sometimes get a more serious cough or runny nose, but I didn't have these symptoms this time. Maybe I am lucky in this respect."

Mr Wang, who did not want to reveal his full name, still had to be hospitalised at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) for four weeks as tests throughout that time found he was still infected.

He was finally discharged yesterday, after two consecutive tests found him to be clear of the virus.

His 66-year-old father, the first coronavirus patient in Singapore, was discharged a day earlier, having also stayed in hospital for a period of 28 days.

The pair, along with Mr Wang's children and a few other family members, had flown to Singapore for a 10-day holiday on Jan 20. The holiday was disrupted after Mr Wang's father developed a fever on the family's second day here.

The father's fever fell and rose again, and he felt cold and warm intermittently. Mr Wang took him to SGH, which confirmed the infection. Mr Wang was also found to be infected on Jan 24, making him the third coronavirus patient here.

"I wasn't very worried as I saw from the news that the disease was more severe for those who are elderly and who have underlying symptoms, but I was worried about my dad, who is older," said Mr Wang.

"He had pneumonia, so he had to use a respirator for the first few days to get more oxygen into his blood. He felt a bit unwell, but the doctor told us that his condition was stable, so we felt more assured."

Mr Wang's father told The Straits Times that he felt unwell for about three days. "It wasn't too unbearable, and I was less worried after my condition stabilised," he said.

He passed his time by making phone calls to his son and family members. "I also started practising a bit of martial arts in the isolation room. I have practised for more than 10 days," he said with a laugh.

"I made sure to complete all my meals too, as I wanted to stay optimistic and defeat the virus."

The younger Mr Wang passed his time by reading books, watching TV shows and calling his family members.

While both father and son had to spend quite some time in hospital, they said they were well taken care of. The nurses helped to get them dumplings on Chinese New Year's Eve to help them fulfil a Chinese tradition signifying the changing of years, and also gave them treats such as home-made soup.

Now that they have recovered, they will spend a few days recuperating here before heading back to Wuhan.

Mr Wang said: "I had bak kut teh before, and I liked it. I want to take my dad to try the dish; it will be a nice ending to our time here."