SINGAPORE - A total of 41 new Covid-19 cases are tied to a growing cluster that has been linked to KTV outlets and nightclubs here, said Singapore's Director of Medical Services Kenneth Mak on Wednesday (July 14).
They include a 40-year-old passenger on board a Dream Cruises ship, who was initially identified as a close contact of a positive case.
The index case, a Vietnamese woman on a short-term visit pass, had gone to a doctor on Sunday with symptoms of an acute respiratory infection.
She was tested and found to be positive, with other cases - including others living in the same house - detected through contact tracing. The woman had frequented many KTV outlets and nightclubs, Associate Professor Mak told reporters.
On whether the latest cluster will affect Monday's easing of restrictions such as allowing five people to dine in instead of two, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said at a press conference: "We thought long and hard about it, and given that we just started this on Monday, and that we now have a much higher level of vaccination rate... there will not be any reversal."
He noted that Singapore is in a much more resilient position than before, with more than 70 per cent of the population having taken one dose of the vaccine and more than 40 per cent, two doses.
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Of Wednesday's 41 cases linked to the KTV cluster, nine were already in quarantine while the rest were picked up through surveillance.
Mr Ong said it was disappointing that this had happened, but added that he was "not entirely surprised".
"This is the nature of the Delta variant," he said, adding that this variant is much more transmissible.
He urged those who have visited KTV lounges and interacted hostesses to get tested, and added that the police will take action against the lounges and hostesses.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.