Entertainment

Actors Mark Lee & Marcus Chin Came Down With COVID-19 Right Before CNY

2022-02-07 , 11:22 am

Chinese New Year should be about getting angpows, not COVID-19.

And even if you’re past the age of receiving angpows from your older relatives, I’m sure that there are so many other things that you’d rather catch during the holiday as opposed to COVID-19.

Unfortunately, not everyone can have their way all the time.

Mark Lee & Marcus Chin Down With COVID-19 During CNY

While the annual Chinese New Year holiday is a brilliant way for most of us to spend time with our families and catch up with relatives we haven’t seen in a while, that was far from the case for a few Singaporean celebrities, including comedians Mark Lee and Marcus Chin.

All of them have recovered since.

Mark Lee’s Reunion Dinner While “Facing the Wall”

When interviewed by Shin Min Daily News, Lee recounted how he had a slight cough and flu when he tested positive for COVID-19 on 29 January at around 6pm. He also added that he did not have a fever, and was still quite alert.

After confirming his COVID-19 positive status with an ART test, he isolated himself in his room, which he disinfected multiple times a day.

Addtionally, his three children only returned to school after testing negative during their ART tests.

“The isolation period wasn’t that hard for me; it was just like how I had my quarantine when I was in Taiwan previously,” Lee explained.

However, the least pleasant part of his COVID-19 recovery journey was probably the fact that he had to miss out on the reunion dinner with his family.

Instead, he had to, in his own words, “face the mirror” for a reunion dinner with himself, with porridge and vegetables and egg with preserved radish that his domestic helper had cooked for him.

He also could not join in his family’s yearly tradition of having yusheng together.

Marcus Chin Recovered In Time For CNY Activities

On the other hand, Chin experienced signs of “heatiness”, which included a sore throat and cough on top of feeling feverish.

Although he had already done an ART test the day before, Chin did one more on 29 January, which confirmed that he had contracted COVID-19.

While in a state of shock over what he would do with his upcoming performances during the Chinese New Year period, he also asked himself where and how he could have contracted the virus.

Being unable to carry on with his initial reunion dinner plans, Chin decided to order takeaway food for his reunion dinner instead. His assistant also helped deliver dinner to his house every day until he recovered.

“I was praying that I would get better in time before the third day of Chinese New Year – I had activities scheduled for that day and really wanted to be able to participate in them,” Chin remarked.

Thankfully, his schedule for the third day of Chinese New Year was not affected.

Chin tested negative on 3 February, allowing him to continue with his various hosting activities for the day.

He concluded cheerfully, “I’m already 69 years old, but thankfully I didn’t have any serious symptoms! I also managed to recover within five days.”

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Veteran Actor Richard Low Recovered Right Before CNY

Apart from Lee and Chin, local veteran actor Richard Low also contracted COVID-19 after an advertisement shoot but recovered in time to participate in the Chinese New Year festivities.

After experiencing a fever, sore throat, runny nose and cough on 18 January, Low visited a doctor and tested negative for the virus.

He then participated in an advertisement shoot on 21 January that also involved other celebrities like Patricia Mok and Benz Hui as he felt better after taking the medication prescribed to him by the doctor.

However, he felt slightly unwell after the shoot ended. Low decided to cancel dinner with other celebrity friends of his and went to see a doctor again, and this time he tested positive for COVID-19.

“I’ve always been very careful about my personal hygiene, especially so during the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m the kind of person who’ll wash my hands immediately even after going to the ATM and prepare toothpicks to press lift buttons, so my spirits were rather low when I realised I had contracted the virus,” Low explained.

Low’s ART tests were positive from 21 to 26 January, but he tested negative on 27 January, recovering just in time before Chinese New Year started.

Though he already tested negative, he continued to administer daily ART tests until 30 January to ensure that he had fully recovered.

He also asked his entire family to wear masks at home and made sure that all seven fans in his house were constantly switched on during his isolation period so as to ensure ventilation throughout the house.

“I took my booster shot before I contracted COVID-19, which could be why I only experienced such mild symptoms. I have friends who are a year or two older than me but did not get to have their booster shot before they contracted COVID-19. They experienced quite severe symptoms after being diagnosed,” Low highlighted.

Mok, his colleague who had been involved in many scenes with him during filming, also mentioned to Shin Min that she tested negative and was well.