It’s easy not to think of how the families of Covid-19 patients in Singapore are affected because they’re reduced to mere numbers in the news – “Case 42”.
But behind every case, there’s a story and a family desperately hoping that their loved one recovers.
Case 42
You may have heard about Case 42, a 39-year-old Bangladeshi construction worker who is linked to the Seletar Aerospace Heights cluster.
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The man has been in critical condition in the intensive care unit (ICU) since 7 Feb.
Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister previously said that the 39-year-old has not been responding to the medicine given to him.
According to the minister, he had been suffering from respiratory and kidney disease before contracting the coronavirus.
But the saddest thing about this case is that his wife is eight months pregnant with their first child, a boy.
Feel bad? Well, the good news is that people have reached out to help this poor man and his family.
Donation Drive for the Pregnant Wife of COVID-19 Bangladeshi Worker
Ms Dipa Swaminathan, who is also the founder of social enterprise for migrant workers ItsRainingRaincoats since 2015, started an appeal on Facebook on Monday, asking people to donate baby items to the wife of the Bangladeshi worker.
She has received many different donations since, including baby clothes, toys, milk bottles, diapers, and even a stroller.
According to Ms Dipa, the poor woman has not seen her hospitalised husband for months.
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The last time the couple met was when he visited her at home in Bangladesh in June last year, said Ms Dipa, who has been in contact with the mother-to-be through WhatsApp.
Ms Dipa, who is a mother herself, said: “Being a mother for the first time is hard enough and to have a calamity on top of it is doubly hard.”
“We are all going through this virus crisis, it is impacting everybody in some way. If I can do my part and give her some joy at this time, that is the least I can do.”
Many have reached out
The donation drive closed on Friday, but the public’s response has been nothing short of incredible.
In a post on Facebook, Ms Dipa praised the numerous donors, saying “the quantity we collected was way beyond our wildest imagination and we are truly overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and generosity that we have witnessed.”
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You can’t help but be moved by the response from these Singaporeans.
There were so many donated items that Ms Dipa actually said it would be too much for one family to receive.
“A single pregnant mother would not be able to cope with an onslaught of so much merchandise let alone unpack it or store it in a small house while 8 months pregnant.”
So, they decided to send these items to the families of two other migrant workers who died in unrelated workplace accidents.
Even Singapore Post reached out to Ms Dipa, offering to absorb the courier cost to send all these items to Bangladesh.
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Mr Robin Goh, group chief brand and communications officer at SingPost, told TNP: “We at SingPost empathise fully with the family during this difficult time.
“Delivering Singapore’s well wishes to the wife is the least we can do. We join all donors in wishing her a safe and smooth delivery, as well as a full recovery for her husband.”
The donated items are expected to reach Case 42’s wife next week.
With all the news of people wiping out supermarkets for their own benefit, it’s nice to see Singaporeans exhibit some kindness and compassion.
Here is the full Facebook post:
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Here's a summary of the Chocolate Finance saga, simplified so even a non-finance kid can understand:
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