DBS Bank Responds to The Independent S’pore’s Article That Claims an Employee Contracted COVID-19 in at Changi Airport

On 25 May, alternative news site The Independent Singapore (TISG) published an article about a woman from India who was recently confirmed to be COVID-19 positive.

The woman, who arrived in Singapore from Nepal, believes she contracted the virus at Changi Airport, adding that she felt much more secure back home in India.

TISG then did a check on LinkedIn and found that the woman was in Singapore on a dependent’s pass and had been working for DBS bank since 2019.

Not long after, the bank released a statement.

DBS Bank Responds to Claims That an Employee Contracted COVID-19 in S’pore

In a post on Facebook, DBS said that the woman is no longer an employee of the bank, and that she was previously engaged as a contract employee through a third-party vendor.

“DBS would like to clarify that _ is presently not a DBS employee. She was previously engaged as a contract employee through a third-party vendor from June to December 2019,” the bank said.

“We hold our employees to the highest standards of conduct, both in person and online. DBS is fully committed to supporting the national effort to contain the spread of COVID-19.”

Woman Was Answering a Facebook Question

TISG’s article was based on a comment left by Facebook user in response to a question asked on the platform.

While the question was not shown, the woman said that she believes she got infected with COVID-19 while at their airport, and that she felt more secure back home in India.

According to the woman’s comment, she had arrived in Singapore after spending 15 days in Nepal.

Both of her polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests – one before boarding her plane to Singapore and another upon arrival – returned negative test results.

The woman said that while there were so many families waiting to reunite, it’s was probably safer to wait for the “second wave” to subside, presumably referring to Singapore’s latest outbreak in the community.

From her post, it appears that some of her family members live in Singapore, and that she was trying to reunite with them.

However, she ended up getting infected with the coronavirus in the process.

“I was more secure in India,” she said.

According to The Online Citizen, the woman’s LinkedIn profile appears to have been taken down as it is no longer accessible.

Given that the woman tested negative before boarding and upon arrival, it’s unclear if she would be classed as a community or imported case.

Featured Image: Arpan on Shutterstock / Shutterstock.com + Facebook (DBS)