Singapore—The story of a family of 12 who went into self-quarantine when their new domestic helper tested positive again for Covid-19 after she had been released from her stay-home notice (SHN) early was published in The Straits Times (ST) on Tuesday (June 1).
It is similar to the recent experience of DJ and social media influencer turned healthcare worker Jade Rasif, who took to social media to recount the scare her family endured when their helper was also discharged from SHN after three days.
However, the Ministry of Manpower called Ms Rasif’s account of the matter “inaccurate.” The former DJ then produced proof to back up her statements, after which MOM apologised publicly.
In the case reported by ST, a helper from Indonesia had been hired by a hotel worker, Ms Lee, to care for her elderly parents. The helper arrived in Singapore on April 15, and despite a positive PCR test, was released from SHN after only five days.
When Ms Lee made inquiries, officials told her that what the maid had was a past infection, based on her positive serology test.
But when the helper was re-tested on May 4, the result was still positive. ST writes that she was then taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID).
Since February, helpers who show antibodies in their serology tests have been considered recovered patients and were given an early SHN discharge.
But a number of helpers were re-tested later, some agencies told ST, and those who showed positive results were then isolated.
Ms Lee told ST that the family was shocked when the helper tested positive — “and it sent us all into confusion and panic because we didn’t know what would happen, whether we needed to be quarantined. Nobody told us anything.”
For safety, different members of her family then chose to self-quarantine.
On May 5, she got an email that said the maid was a suspected positive Covid-19 case. However, the family could still go about doing their daily routines, the email said.
The maid was tested again and showed negative results twice n a row.
But on May 8, after another swab test, the Ministry Of Health told Ms Lee that the 12 people from her family who had been in contact with the helper needed to go into quarantine.
“We were speechless at this point. We thought it was safe to go about our daily lives, and had met so many people at work and school… We were also worried for the safety of our parents, who have chronic illnesses,” she told ST.
The helper has since been released again, but Ms Lee said that the helper’s infection status remains unclear, which has been a cause of concern to the family.
Another woman, only identified as “Rachel”, also told ST of a similar experience with her helper.
As for Ms Rasif, she wrote on May 16 that her helper was swabbed again two weeks after being discharged from SHN, tested positive for Covid-19 and had to go into quarantine.
Ms Rasif wrote that she asked for a postponement of a court date, as she was unsure if she could make it due to exposure to her helper.
And then, she wrote, she received a phone call from the police telling her she was being investigated for potentially breaching a quarantine order, which she had never received.
At first, the Ministry of Manpower wrote it was “sorry to hear about the experience of Ms Jade Rasif and her family,” but added her account “ however is inaccurate and we would like to set out the facts”.
However, Ms Rasif stood her ground and even provided proof concerning her statements. She responded to MOM’s post, wondering which part of her account was inaccurate, adding that the dates provided in MOM’s post did not match the actual events.
On May 22, MOM posted an update on Facebook, apologising for what happened.
“We note that the use of the word ‘inaccurate’ and one of the points in our May 17 FB post could have portrayed Ms Rasif to be providing an inaccurate account on the quarantine order investigation. She shared with us that this had affected her negatively.”
“We would like to extend our apologies to her for this,” said MOM. “Hence, we will retract this point and redact the word ‘inaccurate’ in our May 17 FB post,” added MOM.
/TISG
Jade Rasif loves being on the Covid-19 frontlines, with N95 mask and more