Changi Airport terminals, Jewel to be closed to public from May 13 to May 26

SINGAPORE - All Changi Airport passenger terminal buildings and Jewel Changi Airport will be closed for two weeks to the public starting from Thursday (May 13).

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Changi Airport Group said the move will take place amid ongoing Covid-19 tests of workers at the airport.

They said: "Changi Airport remains open for air travel during this period. Passengers may also continue to be dropped off and picked up from the airport.

"Access to the Passenger Terminal Buildings will be restricted to only passengers with air tickets and essential airport workers. Some essential services and food & beverage outlets will remain open to serve them."

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The closures come as the number of Covid-19 cases linked to the airport continues to grow. Seven of the community cases announced on Wednesday are linked to the Changi Airport cluster, taking the total number of cases in the cluster to 25.

Airport workers and staff working in Jewel are urged to refrain from going out except for essential work or activities in the next 14 days, until they have tested negative for Covid-19.

They should also not be redeployed to other workplaces or outlets during this period.

The airport Covid-19 cluster is now the second-largest active cluster, after the one at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH). It emerged after an 88-year-old cleaner deployed at Terminal 3 tested positive for Covid-19 on May 5.

Six in the cluster have tested preliminarily positive for the B1617 variant, and are pending further confirmatory tests.

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Changi Airport had begun a special testing operation on May 9 to test 9,000 workers in order to root out any hidden Covid-19 cases among airport workers.

Its main cleaning contractor for Changi Airport Terminal 3, Ramky Cleantech Services, was placed on a safety time-out for 14 days starting from Monday (May 10), after Covid-19 cases were detected recently among its cleaners.

The airport had also closed Basement 2 at Terminal 3 to the public since May 10, pending the Ministry of Health's investigations.

It said the area was of particular concern as several of the Covid-19 cases had visited outlets there.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.