When Covid-19 cases crop up, it’s imperative to ringfence a potential cluster to prevent further community spread.
Thus, recent practice is to test all the residents in a certain HDB block when infections have been found there.
It started with Block 506 Hougang Avenue 8, and since then a number of blocks in the northern and eastern parts of Singapore have followed.
From 8-9 Jun, it’ll be the turn of Block 325A Sumang Walk in Punggol, as 8 Covid-19 cases have been found there.
They are split across 3 households in the block.
Pasir Ris-Punggol MP Janil Puthucheary broke the news in a Facebook post on Monday (7 Jun).
He said there have been recent cases of Covid-19 infections in the block, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Thus, the mandatory swabbing is a precautionary measure to ensure residents’ safety and well-being.
A total of 8 people have been infected so far, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported MOH as saying.
They belong to 3 households in the block.
While 4 of them were linked to the Changi Airport cluster, the most recent case was reported on Sunday (6 Jun).
That person is a student who lives in Block 325A.
MOH is investigating the source of transmission, and whether there are any links.
The tests will be conducted from 8-9 Jun (Tues-Wed), from 9am to 4pm.
The swabbing centre will be nearby at Block 324, which is a multi-purpose pavilion.
According to TODAY Online, residents had received a circular on the news.
It said that they would get an SMS from the Health Promotion Board (HPB), informing them of the time slot allocated to them.
Residents must also being their NRIC for identification.
As for residents of the blocks nearby, Dr Janil – who’s Senior Minister of State for Health, and Communications and Information – assured them that they don’t need to be tested.
However, there’s a caveat: If you visited someone in Block 325A from 10 May-5 Jun, you may be in the danger period.
Thus, the circular states that these visitors may volunteer to get swabbed too.
In the meantime, residents have been asked to monitor their health and see a doctor if unwell.
Dr Janil also advised them to stay at home as far as possible.
Meanwhile, the Town Council and National Environment Agency (NEA) has thoroughly cleaned and disinfected the common areas of Block 325A and its surroundings.
According to photos posted by Dr Janil, that includes mailboxes.
And of course, lifts too.
It must be very concerning for residents of Block 325A to receive this news – especially since Block 506 in Hougang went on to become a cluster after more cases were found there.
Residents of 2 more blocks in Hougang, as well as blocks in Yishun and Pasir Ris, have also been swabbed.
Hopefully, Punggol residents will cooperate and head down for their swab tests over the coming days, if only for peace of mind.
Kudos also to MOH for identifying the location and agencies like HPB and HDB for swiftly rolling out the testing operations at such short notice.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps and Facebook.
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