POPULAR nightclub The Butter Factory has closed its doors for a week, after one of its bartenders fell ill with the Influenza A (H1N1) virus.

On Tuesday, another four people linked to the club were infected, said the Health Ministry, bringing the total number of patients from this cluster to nine.

The club's 70 to 80 employees will be on home quarantine during the closure.

It said it decided to shut its doors for the sake of its staff and patrons, and will resume operations next Wednesday.

Its executive chairman Tay Eu-Yen said closing was the 'socially conscious' thing to do.

The 19-year-old bartender, who has been with the club only two months, tested positive for the virus on Monday morning and is now at the Communicable Disease Centre.

The first four H1N1 victims linked to the Butter Factory all partied at the club last Wednesday. Three of them are foreign students here on an exchange programme at the National University of Singapore, while the fourth, a Singaporean student aged 19, was with them.

They developed flu symptoms the day after having been at the nightspot.

The MOH did not give details of the four new patients linked to the club on Tuesday.

The club moved from Robertson Quay to its current, bigger premises at One Fullerton earlier this year.

Read the full report in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.

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