.Having been homebound since the “circuit breakers” and with recent announcements of more stringent measures as the government ups its efforts in curbing the spread of COVID-19 in Singapore, many of us—perhaps especially the kids—may have asked: when is this going to end?
Lucky for most of us, we are not sick—we’re healthy and for the most part, our concerns lie on how do we keep healthy physically and mentally during this period.
Unfortunately for some, such was—and for many more, is—not the case. It wasn’t as simple as just staying put at home. For Singapore’s case 113, it was fighting against the virus that is within him—not knowing when and how the fight will end.
Case 113’s COVID-19 Isolation Process
On 5 March, the Ministry of Health (MOH) reported five new cases of COVID-19. Among them is a male French national who had just arrived in Singapore from a business trip.
The 43-year-old, who has been living in Singapore for 5 years now, revealed in an interview (13 Apr) with Shin Min daily news that he travelled to France, Portugal and two weeks in the United Kingdom from 8 February to 3 March.
He did not feel sick while overseas. He said that he was only symptomatic during his flight on Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to Singapore on 3 March.
Pignal said that he felt weak in addition to having a headache and a slight fever. He took medicines in hopes to relieve his symptoms and felt better. However, Pignal’s symptoms returned the next day and this time worse, as he started coughing.
“To be on the safe side, I decided to go for an examination and the diagnosis was confirmed,” said Pignal.
But rather than feeling worried about his diagnosis, he said he felt more concerned about the possibility that he has infected someone else unknowingly.
Diagnosed with COVID-19
On 4 March, Pignal was admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) where he spent 26 days in isolation.
While his condition had stabilised, the consecutive two tests he had undertaken still showed COVID-19 positive results.
National Centre for Infections Deceases building. | Image source: Miguel Vidal/iStock
As a result, he had to spend a further 14 days in isolation—this time at the community isolation facility of D’Resort—where he was moved on 30 March.
Man Documents 40-day COVID-19 isolation process
Throughout his time in isolation, Pignal—who is also the great-grandson of footwear brand BATA’s founder—shared his recovery process with his followers on his Instagram.
Photo: screengrab from Instagram / charleslangip
From the dreaded swab test to featuring equipment (NIOSH Samplers) that doctors use as part of a “cool experiment” to determine how COVID-19 travels through air, Pignal’s Instagram feed tells us all.
COVID-19 isolation process includes the nose swab test. | Photo: charleslangip / Instagram
COVID-19 isolation process: featuring the NIOSH Samplers, an equipment used by doctors to carry out experiments. | Image source: charleslangip / Instagram
After an extended isolation period of 40 days, Pignal finally recovered from COVID-19. He was discharged on Sunday, 12 April.
View this post on Instagram
He told Shin Min daily news that he was “really happy” to have recovered and could not wait to “go home and reunite with [his] fiancee.”
Pignal reunited with his fiancee. | Photo: charleslangip / Instagram
You can view Pignal’s entire COVID-19 recovery process documented on his Instagram page here.
Also read:
Singapore Family Breaks Into Cool Moves To Celebrate Dad’s End of Stay Home Notice
Woman Tested COVID-19 Positive Despite Staying Home For More Than Three Weeks