Certis Cisco officer diagnosed with Covid-19 while serving home quarantine orders says he would volunteer for the role again

SINGAPORE — It was the first time that he had to spend his birthday away from his wife and two children, and in the confines of an isolation ward, no less. 

But the day turned out better than expected for the 38-year-old Covid-19 patient who wanted to be known only as Case 44. 

His wife and two young children, aged five and seven, sang a birthday song with him via a video call in the morning. Later in the day, the hospital presented him with a cake to mark the occasion.

These were the rare moments of joy during his 12-day ordeal battling the coronavirus. 

“My emotions were really crazy because (my wife and children) would always celebrate (my birthday) together,” the Certis Cisco officer said while speaking to media through a video call. 

“And this time round, when I had to be away from them, they still did it for me.” 

IT STARTED WITH A FEVER

When he was diagnosed with Covid-19, the father of two was a Certis quarantine order agent whose role was to go house-to-house and serve quarantine orders to individuals and to assess if their homes were suitable for them to carry out their quarantine order. 

The Ministry of Health reported that he has been with the security firm for 15 years and he served quarantine orders on two individuals from Wuhan, China — Cases 13 and 26 — who later tested positive for the virus.

He started feeling unwell on Jan 31 and sought treatment at a general practitioner (GP) on Feb 2. 

Case 44 said in the video interview that when he developed a fever, he initially thought that he was suffering from a bout of tonsillitis — or inflammation of the tonsils — which he said recurs “two to three times” a year for him. 

But even after visiting his GP and taking antibiotics, his fever persisted after three to four days. 

Though he did not experience symptoms such as a loss in taste and smell, which some other patients reported, he felt that “something might be wrong”. 

He decided to go to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital on Feb 6 and was told on Feb 9 that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. 

WIFE INCONSOLABLE 

Before Case 44 video-called his wife with the bad news, she had already found out about it from the hospital. 

“When I told her the news, she was already crying like mad… I had to console her, tell her everything is okay… It was a painful moment for me.” 

He said that the first five days in the isolation ward were the toughest. 

“My body temperature would go up to over 39°C, then drop to 37°C before going back up again,” he recounted. 

“To make matters worse, I suffered the side effects of the medication and had diarrhoea, too.” 

While he was battling the virus, he found strength in his family. When he spoke to his children over video call, he would “put on a brave face” for them. 

“My wife and I didn’t tell them anything about me having Covid-19… They just know that daddy is not well, that’s why he is in hospital. When daddy is okay, he will be back home.” 

His family was also served quarantine orders. 

While on quarantine, his wife, a 35-year-old housewife, disinfected the house and kept the children occupied. 

“I’m grateful for that,” he said of his wife’s diligence in taking care of the children in his absence. 

He said he was also thankful for his employers who went “above and beyond the call of duty” to ensure that his family was well taken care of. 

Even though his brother and sister-in-law were already helping his wife and children run errands, his commanding officer still went out of his way to buy groceries for the family and arranged for professional disinfection services to be done at his four-room Housing and Development Board flat in Sembawang. 

His colleagues at Certis also created a Tumblr page for his co-workers to send their well wishes.  

“I was very touched by their support,” he said. 

In addition to this, he became the first recipient of the Courage Fund, which is given out by the Government to low-income families experiencing financial difficulties as a result of family members contracting the virus, or having to serve quarantine orders, stay-home notices or a mandatory leave of absence. 

While he still received his salary while he was hospitalised, he said that the sum he received from the fund — he did not reveal how much — would “help towards the provision of necessities for my family”.

THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

It was only after six days in the hospital that “things started to get better” for Case 44. His appetite gradually returned and he became less lethargic. 

As someone who runs and plays football regularly, he felt increasingly restless when confined in the ward. 

“I made trips to the toilet more often… I walked around inside the small room, I just needed to get out of the bed,” he said. 

But the biggest hurdle in the last few moments of his hospital stay was not the yearning to go outdoors but the dreaded swab test which had to show negative results twice before he could be discharged.

“When they poked the swab in my nose, I tried to remain cool. When they asked if it was painful, I said ‘no’ but I couldn’t hold back the tears, it was so painful.” 

He was finally discharged on Feb 18, after 12 days in the hospital — the longest period he has ever spent away from his family.

“They were ecstatic, they were screaming, ‘Daddy you’re back!’” he said of his children. “I tried to be cool, but the happy tears just fell.” 

A week after being discharged, he went back to work and back to his role of rostering and deploying Certis officers to government facilities. 

While he wishes that he could “wipe out” the entire Covid-19 episode from his life, he said that he would still volunteer to serve home quarantine orders again if asked.  

“(Serving quarantine orders) is something we don’t experience every day,” he said. “It’s a very good learning experience and I am proud if I can chip in a little bit for the nation.” 

“Given the chance, I would volunteer again.”