Sungei Tengah Lodge Declared An Isolation Area From Midnight On 9 Apr
Over the past week or so, 3 worker dormitories in Singapore have been declared isolation areas after they emerged as huge Covid-19 clusters.
Toh Guan Dormitory Is Now An Isolation Area, No Outsiders Allowed
On Thursday (9 Apr), Sungei Tengah Lodge in Choa Chu Kang was gazetted as an isolation area — the 4th of its kind in Singapore.
To date, 29 Covid-19 cases are linked to the worker dormitory, of which 11 of them were reported on the day when the place was turned into an isolation area.
Sungei Tengah Lodge declared as isolation area to curb spread of Covid-19
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), Sungei Tengah Lodge was officially declared an isolation area at midnight on Thursday (9 Apr).
The move will hopefully help to curb the spread of the new coronavirus and prevent a “possible outbreak”.
The worker’s dormitory, located along Old Choa Chu Kang Road is the “largest purpose-built worker’s dormitory”.
At full capacity, the dormitory can house up to 25,000 residents.
Sungei Tengah Lodge first emerged as a Covid-19 cluster last Saturday (4 Apr).
The cluster has since grown in size over the week and has 29 cases linked to it thus far.
11 more new Covid-19 linked to dormitory on 8 Apr
What prompted the decision to isolate the facility could be the sudden spike in confirmed cases on Wednesday (8 Apr).
142 New Covid-19 Cases On 8 Apr, Including 40 Linked To Worker Dormitory Clusters
On the day alone, 11 patients – nearly a third of the people linked to the cluster – were reported.
The duration of isolation wasn’t disclosed but will likely last for 2 weeks, similar to the other workers’ dormitories which were also declared isolation areas.
MS News has reached out to Sungei Tengah Lodge for more information.
S11 Dormitory @ Punggol is Singapore’s largest cluster with 118 cases
3 other worker dormitories were declared isolation areas before this.
Toh Guan Dormitory
Source
Here are the previously gazetted dormitories and the updated number of Covid-19 cases linked to them:
- S11 Dormitory @ Punggol — 118 cases
- Toh Guan Dormitory — 23 cases
- Westlite Toh Guan dormitory — 38 cases.
The situation in S11 Dormitory is the most worrying. With 118 cases linked to it, the facility is the largest Covid-19 cluster in Singapore.
Hope workers understand need for such drastic measures
The spike in Covid-19 cases linked to these worker dormitories is shocking indeed, to put it mildly.
We hope the residents at the dormitory understand the need for such extreme measures and would bear with it for the time being.
Meanwhile for the rest of us, please adhere to the social distancing measures put in place.
The surge in cases linked to worker dormitories are already worrying enough. Let’s not burden our healthcare system further by continuing with social gatherings — this could lead to new clusters forming if anyone was infected.
Featured image adapted from Sungei Tengah Lodge.
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