Hong Lim Market and Food Centre, Jurong Fishery Port to close for 2 weeks after new cluster detected

Hong Lim Market and Food Centre, along with Jurong Fishery Port and Khoi Grill and Hotpot at Jalan Besar will be closed for two weeks from Saturday (July 17) after new clusters were found.

In a statement on Friday (July 16) night, the Ministry of Health (MOH) stated that seven cases were linked to the market and port which formed one cluster. Another seven cases were linked to a new cluster found at Khoi Grill and Hotpot, an eatery located at 283 Jalan Besar.

Hong Lim Market and Food Centre and Jurong Fishery Port will be closed until July 31, while Khoi Grill and Hotpot will be closed till July 30, for deep-cleaning and disinfection.

Earlier, Lianhe Zaobao had reported that several stalls at Hong Lim Market and Food Centre were ordered to close on Friday, after a hawker, believed to be working at a drinks stall, was found to have contracted Covid-19. Other stalls, however, were still open when the reporter visited the food centre in the afternoon.

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Said the owner of a vegetarian stall when interviewed: "It's tough being a hawker, once there's a confirmed case we'll be asked to close. There's no income but we still have to pay rent."

Free Covid-19 swab tests will be available to members of the public who visited the market and food centre between July 2 and Friday. More details are available on MOH's website.

Mandatory Covid-19 testing will also be conducted for all who visited Jurong Fishery Port between July 3 and Friday.

There were 53 cases of new local coronavirus cases as of Friday noon, including 32 cases linked to the cluster from KTV outlets and nightclubs. The total number of cases in the KTV cluster now stands at 120.

With eight imported cases, there were a total of 61 Covid-19 cases yesterday. 

Two among the eight were detected upon arrival in Singapore, said MOH. The remaining six developed the illness during stay-home notice or isolation.

The number of new cases in the community has increased from 21 cases in the week before to 179 cases in the past week. The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased from nine cases in the week before to 20 cases in the past week.

According to MOH, there are currently 27 active clusters, ranging between three and 120 infections.

184 patients are currently in hospital for the infection, with one person in critical condition in the intensive care unit (ICU), while seven require oxygen supplementation.

4-ring approach to contain spread of Covid-19 from KTV cluster

The KTV cluster is currently the largest active cluster at 120 cases, just three days after it was reported on Tuesday.

On Friday, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that MOH will be taking a four-ring approach to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the light of the growing KTV cluster.

This includes placing staff and patrons detected through Safe Entry and TraceTogether on quarantine. So far, 2,480 of these individuals have been placed under quarantine. 

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The second ring involves other staff and patrons not detected but were asked to come forward for testing. Ong stated that 1,660 indivduals have come forward for testing, of which 25 tested positive.

The third ring involves other members of the public found to be in contact with those who have tested positive for the virus, picked up via TraceTogether.

A "health risk warning" will be sent to these members of the public, where they would be required to get tested and self-isolate for 14 days, and go through another PCR test.

For the final ring, a "health risk alert" will be sent to those who have visited the locations where the affected KTV joints are located.

They will not have to go through mandatory Covid-19 testing, but will be "strongly advised" to monitor their health and minimise interactions, said Ong. Self-testing for this group is also encouraged. 

ALSO READ: First Covid-19 case in KTV cluster entered country in February via familial ties lane, sponsored by Singaporean boyfriend

candicecai@asiaone.com