Tenants and staff working in Tiong Bahru area to be tested

Tenants and staff working at several places in the Tiong Bahru area will be tested for Covid-19, after infections were detected among people who had been there.

In addition, members of the public who have visited these places will be offered free Covid-19 tests.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said yesterday it is investigating cases of Covid-19 infection among individuals who work in or visited blocks 78, 79, 80, 84 and 85 Redhill Lane, 86 Redhill Close, 18 Jalan Membina and the Tiong Bahru Yong Tao Hu Coffeeshop.

It said the special testing operations for staff and tenants working in these places would disrupt any wider and undetected community transmission.

As for visitors to the affected premises in Redhill Lane and Redhill Close, MOH said free testing would be available to those who were there between June 1 and June 15.

For 18 Jalan Membina, free testing will be offered to visitors who were there between June 9 and June 15.

Free testing will also be offered to those who were at Tiong Bahru Yong Tao Hu Coffeeshop in Eng Hoon Street between June 7 and June 14.

LIMIT

They should also minimise social interactions for 14 days from their date of visit and see the doctor immediately if they feel unwell.

MOH reported 20 new locally transmitted Covid-19 infections in Singapore yesterday.

Nineteen of the cases were linked to previous cases, with 14 already in quarantine when they were tested. The last case is currently unlinked.

Of the 19 linked cases, 17 were linked to a cluster at 115 Bukit Merah View Market and Food Centre. This brings the total number of cases in the cluster to 56.

Among the new cases in the cluster were four schoolgoers: a five-year-old boy who attends PCF Sparkletots Preschool (Henderson), a 10-year-old girl from Zhangde Primary School, and two girls, aged 13 and 14, from Bukit Merah Secondary School.

None of them had been back to their respective pre-school or schools after May 18, said MOH.

Also among the new cases is a patient service associate at Singapore General Hospital, aged 23.

She was tested on Tuesday as part of the hospital's surveillance testing for staff and was taken off work as soon as her result was known on Wednesday.

She was not involved in caring for Covid-19 patients. She had her first vaccine dose on Feb 1 and the second on Feb 24.

The sole unlinked case yesterday is a 72-year-old woman who works as a counter staff at McDonald's in Tiong Bahru Plaza. - THE STRAITS TIMES

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By the numbers 

27 New cases

19 Community, linked

1 Community, unlinked

7 Imported

151 In hospital

34 Deaths

61945 Total recovered

62366 Total cases