SINGAPORE — A construction worker whose wife gave birth to their first child in Bangladesh while he was hospitalised here with Covid-19 has been taken off a ventilator and moved out of intensive care, the Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) said on Thursday (April 16).

The 39-year-old man, who tested positive for the respiratory disease on Feb 8, has been under intensive care for more than two months since he was admitted on Feb 7, due to complications from the infection. 

In late February, the Bangladesh High Commission had confirmed that the worker was in a very critical state, adding that he already suffered from respiratory and kidney problems as well as pneumonia before he had Covid-19.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, MWC said that the worker has been transferred out of the intensive care unit (ICU) into a general ward to continue with his recovery.

He is now able to breathe on his own but will require speech therapy as part of his recovery process.

“The MWC has tracked this case closely for almost four months now and, in the process, has grown close to both the worker’s family and his employer. 

“We have spoken with the family and the employer regarding this very encouraging and happy development and can report that all concerned are overjoyed,” it said.

MWC had earlier said on Facebook that the man’s wife delivered a baby boy on March 30.

A day later, the centre said that the worker had been cleared of Covid-19 and was transferred out of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) to another undisclosed hospital.

However, he remained in intensive care because his condition was still critical.

When asked where the worker is now warded, MWC told TODAY that it could not disclose the location due to the personal data protection law. 

In its press release on Feb 9, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that the worker, known as Case 42, is a Singapore work pass holder. 

He did not travel to China, where the outbreak was first reported in Wuhan of Hubei province. He was working at the Seletar Aerospace Heights construction site and was one of the first five workers infected in that cluster. The other four workers have since been discharged. 

Before he fell ill, Case 42 had visited Mustafa Centre and stayed at the Leo dormitory located on 25 Kaki Bukit Road.

He first reported symptoms on Feb 1 and sought treatment at a clinic on Feb 3 and again at Changi General Hospital (CGH) on Feb 5. 

Two days later, he went for a follow-up appointment at Bedok Polyclinic. He was then admitted to the ICU unit at CGH on the same day, MOH said. 

On Feb 8, he tested positive for Covid-19 and was transferred to NCID.

Two weeks later, the Bangladesh High Commission confirmed that the worker was in a very critical condition.

In its Facebook post announcing the birth of the man’s baby in March, MWC said that it facilitated a video conference call between the wife and the worker's medical team a day before she was to deliver the baby. The wife could see her husband, who was sedated, and that allowed her “to seek strength from seeing her beloved before the delivery”, the centre said.

His wife also thanked everyone in Singapore who has shown concern and support for her husband and their family, especially to the medical workers looking after her husband.