COVID-19 Diaries: What It’s Like Living In A Building With 3 Confirmed Cases

Doris* (*not her real name) lives in Singapore, in a building where many units are stacked close together, one on top of the other. She was recently informed of 3 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the very block she lives in. She told us how she’s responded and how her health has been like since. 

Q: Hi Doris, thanks for speaking with us! When did you first notice a COVID-19 patient living in your condominium? How did that develop and end up becoming 3 cases?

A: I first suspected there might be a coronavirus-positive person in my condominium when I saw red and blue lights flashing outside my window one night. It was an ambulance that didn’t have its siren on, turning into my condo. I couldn’t see where it went after that and kinda forgot about it for a few days until I noticed a note placed at the lift lobby by the condo management saying that a resident had tested positive. It didn’t reveal which block the resident lived in though.

A few days later, I get a note from the condo management stuffed under my door saying that a second resident from the same household had been infected, and that those 2 residents were from my block. And more days after that, I got yet another note under my door saying a third resident from a different household but again from the same block had been infected. 

The fortunate thing is that the third and the first 2 cases are not linked (or at least that’s what the last note said), meaning it wasn’t transmitted through the building (or so they think). That is the reason the condo hasn’t been identified as a cluster in the news. I guess all we can do now is wait a month to see if more cases in the same block develop. If none do, then we’re clear. 

What did you feel when you first realised you were living in a “contaminated” building? What did you do then?

My first thought was “oh crap” but I was otherwise generally calm because well, it is what it is. Fate. A friend from Hong Kong then advised me to pour a mix of detergent and water into my pipes in case the virus spreads through the pipes like SARS did in Hong Kong so that was the next thing I did. Basically those emotional and behavioural reactions repeated themselves every time I heard about there being a new confirmed case in the building. I have since bought a large container of disinfectant and eventually poured that down the pipes instead of detergent. 

How did your sense of panic increase when the cases of infection went from 1 to 2 to 3? 

It didn’t really increase. 1 infected feels the same as 3 infected. Basically so long the building is infected, you already feel screwed…

How did this community outbreak affect your daily life? Will you consider moving to another apartment to live temporarily?

I now wrap my finger with a thick wad of tissue before pressing any lift buttons and I generally don’t open my windows as often as I used to (lest someone in my block decides to cough out theirs). I also pour disinfectant down my pipes every now and then which I never did before. 

Because the virus seems to be everywhere in Singapore now (a supermarket and a pharmacy had to close recently because of infected employees and there are almost 100 cases of unknown origin here today), I don’t see anywhere else as being any safer. It’s like you can run but not hide, so no, I don’t see moving as the solution.  

What is the health status of you and your family members presently?

Oddly, on the night the note about the third infected resident appeared under my door, shortly after I disinfected my pipes, I developed a 38-degree fever that burned through the night. The next morning, I was feeling much better but another member of my family developed a fever. The day after that, we were both feeling normal again with 36-degree temperatures, but later that night my throat was sore and my chest felt inflamed and itchy inside, to the extent that I occasionally felt the urge to cough. Today my sore throat is gone but my chest still feels itchy, though I’m no longer feeling that urge to cough. I am otherwise well enough to be answering this while seated in an upright position and going about my day like normal—within the confines of my home, of course. 

What will you do if you suspect you are infected? How likely do you think you will be infected?

I do presently suspect I MIGHT be infected, mostly because I had a fever just days ago, coupled with the fact that the virus has been in my building, and in a supermarket and basically everywhere. But I’ve read enough news reports to know that COVID-19 is seldom detected in the early stages of the disease and that many positive cases end up seeing a doctor more than once before testing positive. In fact, day 5-7 of illness is when it all reportedly goes south and breathing difficulties develop. I’ve been staying home and avoiding people since I got my fever but if I develop breathing difficulties past day 5 or 7, I’m definitely calling a doctor to arrange a non-crowded time-slot. 

If I did test positive, I wouldn’t be surprised at all. And not just because of my building. Just the other day, I grabbed a takeaway dinner from a hawker centre that was a short walk away from the supermarket that had the infected employee. And I have been ordering online deliveries from that very supermarket brand too. Who can say for sure where I contracted the disease from if I did contract it? 

If the pandemic is not going to stop unless herd immunity is gained, how panicked are you at this point? What is your plan then?

If COVID-19 becomes a regular disease like any other then contracting it at some point would be inevitable and even necessary. If there is nothing I can do to avoid getting COVID-19 then I would like to hurry up and contract it and get the antibodies in my body all set up and ready to deal with future occurrences of it. I’m not panicking at all right now because what’s the use in that? This pandemic has been going on for months now. It’s getting more tiresome than frightening.

If these are the last 30 days of your life, what will you do?

I would quit work at once because that would no longer be relevant. And I would spend the next 30 days spending or giving away all of my money with my loved ones by my side round the clock. When not doing that, I would contact everyone who’s ever meant something to me or made a difference in my life and tell them all the sappy things I never would if I wasn’t dying. 

Doris hopes to be able to go out again like before soon. (“To be able to attend events and hang out amongst large groups of strangers like before.”) She can’t say when she will be able to do that though. (“I don’t think anybody can.”)

More interviews with people in other parts of the world coming up next week. Follow the latest in our COVID-19 Diaries series here.

If you’re in a country that has been affected by the novel coronavirus and would like to share information about the situation where you’re at, do get in touch with us here.

Other interviews with Doris:
COVID-19 Diaries: Singapore, 182 Days In

Photographs courtesy and copyright of Doris*. Interviewer: Kauai
Sponsor or support the COVID-19 Diaries series here.
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