SINGAPORE - They put their lives at risk every day - a family physician, a nurse, and a police officer - but with uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 outbreak, their families have been growing anxious.
Dr Dale Lim, a family physician with 20 years of experience, has had to convince his nine-year-old son that he is well-protected despite seeing patients with flu-like symptoms.
"One day, I went to pick him up from school and he came into the car wearing a mask. So I asked him: "Why are you wearing a mask?" He mentioned that he was concerned that I was carrying some virus."
Having experienced the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) epidemic, Dr Lim immediately put what he learnt into practice.
"During the Sars outbreak in 2003, I was a physician stationed at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, which was the designated Sars hospital at the time. When I first heard about the Covid-19 outbreak, I was a little concerned because the virus is similar to that of Sars. However, as doctors, we are trained to handle situations like this."
To protect himself and his staff, Dr Lim transformed the back of his clinic into an outdoors consultation area to treat patients with flu-like symptoms. He also wears personal protective equipment such as gloves and the N95 mask during consultation, and disinfects his clinic regularly.
"My staff in this clinic are my priority because without them, we cannot continue doing what we are doing."
Meanwhile, Ms Wong Yee Wing, senior staff nurse at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) has found herself reassuring her patients more than her parents.
"When patients are told by doctors that they are confirmed cases, they get worried because they may compare themselves to patients in other countries who are in a more critical condition. We will tell them: 'Don't worry, we are always here and the doctors are always here to help them'."
While Ms Wong's workload has increased, her main challenge is keeping up with new guidelines and information released by the Health Ministry and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
"There isn't much of a change to what I do on a normal day, compared with what I do now. We still fulfil our nursing duties, serve medication and attend to patients if they have any needs. The only challenge I face now is to try and remember all the information because we have to understand it first before we can explain it to the patients."
No matter how busy she gets, Ms Wong finds her job fulfilling.
"The patients will say thank you to us even though they are very anxious. At the end of the conversation, they will say: 'Thank you, nurse, thank you so much'. Those simple 'thank yous' make my job rewarding; knowing that I made a difference in their lives."
Similar to Ms Wong, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Tew Meng Hwee has not seen a difference in what he does on a daily basis. As one of the investigators in charge of gambling cases, ASP Tew found his skills useful in supporting the Health Ministry's contact tracing operation.
"Back in 2003, I went through the Sars period so I know the police force will get involved. I was prepared to be part of this. When there was a call to participate in the contact-tracing operation, I put myself on the list."
As part of the contact-tracing team, ASP Tew has to interview patients in the hospital. He poses various questions to jog their memory on where they have been in the last 14 days before they were tested positive for the virus. During such interviews, ASP Tew will wear a mask to keep himself safe.
One of his most notable contributions was investigating two unrelated coronavirus cases in February this year. Within 24 hours, ASP Tew and his team found that both patients had gone to The Life Church and Missions Singapore in Paya Lebar. They also discovered that two earlier cases had also visited the church.
Despite being at the forefront to keep Singaporeans safe, he makes sure to listen to his wife after a hard day's work.
"My wife wants me to clean myself first after the operation before I go home. So I will do that diligently."
