Singapore has been facing a surge in local cases over recent days, with a return to 3-digit daily Covid-19 figures.
Relatively large clusters have also emerged, including one linked to North Coast Lodge that reported 59 cases in a single day.
On Tuesday (24 Aug), the Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a new cluster at Bugis Junction with 20 cases linked to date.
MOH advises visitors who recently visited the mall to go for swab tests.
In its evening update, MOH elaborated a little on the 111 locally transmitted cases that they reported on Tuesday (24 Aug).
20 of the cases traced back to a new cluster at Bugis Junction.
According to MOH, all 20 were among individuals working at the popular shopping centre.
Employees at affected shops will undergo Covid-19 tests while close contacts of the positive cases will serve quarantine.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday (25 Aug), the Bugis Junction management said they have increased the frequency of cleaning and disinfection.
Since one of the staff who tested positive is a BHG employee, the department store will close for deep cleaning from 24-25 Aug.
While the authorities take the necessary steps to detect any further transmissions at the mall, they’re also encouraging recent visitors to get swabbed.
Those who had visited the mall or used its services and facilities from 17-24 Aug can get tested at one of the Community Surveillance test sites.
The tests are free and will help the authorities detect any cryptic community cases. More information is available here.
MOH also reported 2 other new clusters in its update on Tuesday (24 Aug).
One of them is at Selarang Halfway House with 8 cases and the other is linked to an individual case with 4 cases.
The North Coast Lodge cluster that saw 59 cases the previous day reported 24 new infections.
This comes after the authorities completed their testing operations at the Woodlands Dormitory, swabbing more than 5,300 residents.
Singapore currently has 70 active clusters.
It’s always concerning when a cluster breaks out at one of our popular shopping centres.
We hope there hasn’t been any widespread transmission to visitors and that the authorities can ringfence the cluster ASAP.
If you’ve recently been to the mall, do go for the tests and protect those around you.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
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