Yesterday (24 Aug), Singapore reported 51 new Covid-19 cases. Of these cases, 43 were migrant workers living in dormitories.
Unfortunately, another cluster as formed, in addition to Sungei Tengah Lodge and Homestay Lodge that were announced over the weekend.
Tuas View Dormitory is now a new cluster, with 6 cases linked there.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) previously announced that Tuas View Dormitory was cleared of Covid-19 on 4 Aug.
But the tables have turned again, after one of the newly confirmed cases has links to 5 existing cases at the dormitory.
The location – gazetted as isolation area on 17 Apr – previously had over 1,500 cases linked to it.
Giving further updates on the 43 dorm cases yesterday, MOH said 26 are contacts of previous cases.
They have now under quarantine to curb risk of infecting others. They were also sent for testing to determine their status.
As for the rest of the 17 cases, they were detected through MOH’s surveillance testing, which allows them to pick up cases early, especially asymptomatic.
This is so that they can ring-fence the patients by aggressively containing, tracing, and isolating close contacts, to prevent further transmission.
MOH also they have completing screening and testing all individuals who visited Jewel Music Box KTV at HomeTeamNS Khatib on 1 and 2 Aug.
The KTV was not operational during the visits and there were no no singing activities.
Despite this, the complete screening and testing serves as a precautionary measure following the detection of 3 cases who had visited the KTV during the affected dates.
Risk of infection for visitors appears to be low, said MOH. In all, 322 individuals were tested, and all the results have come back negative.
The fight against Covid-19 looks to be an uphill battle, as new clusters are breaking out again despite being previously cleared.
We hope the authorities can act swiftly, and keep infected workers isolated from the rest, so that the outbreak stays under control.
Featured image adapted from Tuas View Dormitory.
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