S'pore bakery Home's Favourite among 5 new Covid-19 clusters; premises to close till Aug 12

The bakery, located at 15 Jalan Tepong, will be closed from July 29 to Aug 12 for deep cleaning and to reduce the chances of transmission. PHOTO: JURONG.SG

SINGAPORE - Five new Covid-19 clusters have surfaced, one of which involves workers in a home-grown bakery in Jurong.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said in an update on Wednesday (July 28) that six cases have been linked to a new cluster at the Home's Favourite bakery at Jurong Food Hub and there is likely ongoing transmission at the premises.

The bakery, located at 15 Jalan Tepong, will be closed from July 29 to Aug 12 for deep cleaning and to reduce the chances of transmission. All staff will also be tested and placed on quarantine.

The four other new clusters are linked to individual cases, and range from one to three new cases in each cluster.

In total, there are currently 44 active clusters in Singapore.

The Jurong Fishery Port cluster stands at 932 cases and remains the largest active cluster to date.

MOH is extending free Covid-19 testing to those who have visited Taman Jurong Market and Food Centre at 3 Yung Sheng Road between July 13 and 27.

This is part of their ongoing investigation into cases of Covid-19 infection involving markets and food centres likely seeded by fishmongers who visited Jurong Fishery Port to collect their stock and sell at the markets and food centres.

MOH also said on Wednesday that residents living in three Housing Board blocks in Ang Mo Kio and Clementi will have to undergo mandatory testing for Covid-19 over the next two days after signs of transmission among the households were detected.

The blocks identified were 438 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 and 430 and 445A Clementi Avenue 3, the ministry said in a statement.

So far, 10 cases of the infection were found in six households at 438 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, and a total of 13 cases at Blocks 430 and 445A Clementi Avenue 3.

Most of these cases are linked to the Jurong Fishery Port cluster, said MOH, and added that investigations are under way.

Those who have interacted with residents from the affected blocks in the past two weeks can also book an appointment at designated regional screening centres for voluntary testing.

Singapore reported a total of 136 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, including 130 locally transmitted cases and six imported cases. There were 48 unlinked locally transmitted cases.

Among the locally transmitted cases are three seniors above 70 who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, and are at risk of serious illness.

There are 567 Covid-19 patients still in hospital. Most are well and under observation.

These include two in critical condition in the intensive care unit, and 23 who require oxygen support. Among these 25 cases, one is fully vaccinated, but requires oxygen supplementation as she has underlying medical conditions.

Sixteen seniors above 60 years of age - of whom 15 are completely unvaccinated or partially vaccinated - have fallen very ill.

"There is continuing evidence that vaccination helps to prevent serious disease when one gets infected. Over the last 28 days, 31 local cases required oxygen supplementation, were admitted to ICU or passed away. Sixteen are unvaccinated,13 are partially vaccinated and two are fully vaccinated," said MOH.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that about 187,000 seniors above 60 have yet to receive their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

He addressed concerns that the vaccine could cause seniors to suffer heart attacks or strokes, but said that these illnesses happen naturally within the population, regardless of the Covid-19 vaccination.

He showed two graphs that showed that the number of seniors suffering from acute myocardial infarctions and strokes has remained steady over the past few years, despite the seniors growing in population.

"I hope these numbers provide some peace of mind for seniors and their family members, to go ahead and take the vaccines," said Mr Ong.

He reminded seniors that they can walk in to any participating clinic or polyclinic to receive their vaccination without an appointment.

Elderly with mobility issues can also arrange for their jabs to be done at home by calling 1800-650-6060.

Read the full MOH press release here.

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