Covid-19 outbreak: Second DBS employee infected, Ngee Ann City cleans up premises at Tower A

SINGAPORE — Another employee of DBS bank has tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus, the firm said on Monday (Feb 17). This time, the staff member works in the bank’s satellite office, which is understood to be at Ngee Ann City along Orchard Road.

Last week, DBS evacuated 300 employees from one of its offices on the 43rd floor of Tower 3 at Marina Bay Financial Centre — after a 62-year-old employee working there was confirmed to have contracted the virus.

On Monday evening, the Ministry of Health said that Case 77 — one of two new cases in Singapore announced that day — is a 35 year-old Singaporean man who had not been to China recently and tested positive on Monday morning for Covid-19. 

He is a contact of Case 50 (the 62-year-old DBS employee), the ministry added. 

Patient 77 is now warded in an isolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.

In response to queries from TODAY, DBS said that the latest patient is its employee and he was in close contact with the bank’s first case. He has been placed under quarantine since last week before he was diagnosed.

“We are rendering every support to him and his family during this period. We have also identified those who were in close contact with him, and are taking the same precautions as we did with the first case,” its spokesperson said.

“We have a framework for contact tracing, which we execute through a mix of physical interviews and data analytics. Through this, we are able to contact-trace up to three degrees of separation,” she added.

The bank added that the satellite office has been deep-cleaned.

DBS stressed that the health and well-being of their employees and customers is a top priority and it will continue to monitor the situation closely.

“Affected employees have been receiving support from the bank including having basic grocery packs delivered to them. A medical helpline, webinars as well as virtual doctors are additional resources that have been put in place for all employees,” the spokesperson said.

In a notice issued to tenants on Monday, Ngee Ann City’s management said that there was one case of an infected person in Tower A of its office building.

The case was reported to the building’s Management Corporation Strata Title security at noon on Monday and the matter has been referred to the authorities, it added.

It said that the affected office space and floor at Tower A has been closed off and common areas such as lifts and toilets are being deep-cleaned and disinfected in accordance with the Ministry of Health's guidelines.

General manager Lim Yen Li said in the notice: “We have immediately cordoned off the area where he worked and have initiated a (series) of deep cleaning processes in the immediate area as well as the common areas where the case was last seen.

“Special cleaning and disinfection has been done in the surrounding areas as a precaution.”

The building management reminded its tenants to adopt good personal hygiene practices and urged them to work collectively to minimise the potential risk and spread of the virus.