8 colleagues at same lo hei lunch, GP who saw patient quarantined - The Straits Times

On the day he developed symptoms associated with the coronavirus, a 41-year-old Singaporean with no apparent links to the previous infected cases nor travel history to China had a lo hei lunch with about 20 colleagues at a well-known Chinese restaurant in Jurong, a source told The Straits Times yesterday.

It is understood that at least nine people - eight of his colleagues and the doctor who treated him - have now been quarantined.

The source who knows the 41-year-old man said government officials served his colleagues the quarantine orders from the early hours to 4am yesterday.

The man was one of two new confirmed cases announced by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday night.

The other case is a 27-year-old man who was one of four investigated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) after attending a private business meeting at the Grand Hyatt Singapore.

The 41-year-old had developed a fever on Jan 28, the same day he had lunch with his colleagues. The Straits Times understands that he works in a company in Jurong.

He went to two general practitioner (GP) clinics on Jan 29 and Jan 30, respectively, and was subsequently admitted to Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital on Feb 3. One of the clinics is Phoenix Medical Group in Greenwich V in Seletar.

According to a letter circulated by the clinic and seen by The Straits Times, the man had visited the clinic twice, once on Jan 30 and again on Feb 3.

On both occasions, he was treated by Dr Lee Kai Lun, 41, one of the founders of the clinic, who was served quarantine orders by MOH yesterday morning.

The man "appeared quite ill with gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms, and a moderate fever", said the letter, which was addressed to friends and patients of Phoenix Medical.

He was advised to go to the emergency department, but as he "did not fulfil the MOH criteria for a suspect case", he was not sent to hospital via the dedicated ambulance service.

He is now warded at the NCID in an isolation room.

The clinic's rooms, corridors, tabletops, seats and examination couches have since been thoroughly cleaned, said the medical group.

Dr Lee said he closed the clinic early to clean and disinfect the premises following confirmation on Thursday evening that the 41-year-old patient tested positive for the coronavirus.

"It did come as a surprise, given the lack of travel history for the patient," said Dr Lee, who added that he feels well at present and does not have symptoms associated with the virus.

Dr Lee, who has two children, also put himself under self-imposed quarantine. He did not return home on Thursday night and spent it at a friend's empty apartment.

"Although I was not yet officially told to be quarantined, I knew the right thing to do was to stand down and stop seeing patients or be in contact with people," he said.

The clinic's other co-founder, Dr Chua Hshan Cher, 41, said the clinic has implemented measures such as daily temperature checks for staff and hourly cleaning and disinfecting of its premises.

"All of us at the clinic are healthy and well," added Dr Chua.

He said the clinic decided to release the circular as it wanted to be clear about the timeline of events and ensure that there would be zero speculation about what had happened.

While the information might cause a "short-term hit" to the clinic's reputation, Dr Chua said: "We believe that honesty is the best policy. It is a long battle ahead, and we feel that people should be appropriately informed about this.

"It is more for awareness. We are all in this together."

The Straits Times has contacted the man's company and the Chinese restaurant for comments, but has yet to receive any reply.