Haig Road, Chong Pang markets to shut till Aug 4 after 35 Covid-19 cases found

Haig Road Market & Food Centre (left) and Chong Pang Market & Food Centre. PHOTOS: LIM YAOHUI, LIANHE ZAOBAO FILE

Business Correspondent

Updated

Published

Jul 21, 2021, 12:11 AM

SINGAPORE - Two more markets and food centres will be closed after 35 Covid-19 cases were detected among people who worked or visited those places.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said it has detected 25 of such cases at Haig Road Market and Food Centre, and 10 cases at Chong Pang Market.

Both places will be closed to the public from Wednesday (July 21) to Aug 4 to break the chain of transmission and enable deep cleaning of the premises, MOH said on Tuesday night.

The ministry earlier announced that Chong Boon Market and Food Centre had been closed from July 18 to Aug 1.

"All individuals who work in the market and food centre have earlier been placed on quarantine, and tested during quarantine," said MOH.

To uncover any community infection cases, it will also extend free Covid-19 testing to members of the public who had visited Chong Boon Market and Food Centre between July 3 and July 17.

Members of the public can go to this website for more information.

MOH is also investigating cases of Covid-19 infection among social hostesses who had frequented KTV lounges or clubs currently operating as food and beverage outlets, and their close contacts.

According to investigations, there is likely ongoing transmission at Club MX at 401 MacPherson Road.

All visitors to the affected premises are advised to monitor their health closely, and minimise social interactions as far as possible, for 14 days from their date of visit or interaction, said MOH, adding that visitors should see the doctor immediately if they feel unwell.

"We also advise all visitors to markets and food centres to avoid crowds and to do their marketing during off-peak hours, or at supermarkets, and to strictly observe the safe management measures," it said.

Singapore recorded an all time high of 182 Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, with 142 linked to the Jurong Fishery Port cluster and 14 to the KTV cluster, said MOH in its update.

This takes the total number of cases in the Jurong Fishery Port cluster to 321 and in the KTV cluster to 207.

There were 26 active clusters of infection on Tuesday, ranging between three and 321 infections.

MOH said it has been monitoring existing clusters for any further transmission. "As there have been no more cases linked to the Case 64233 and 90 Redhill Close clusters for the past two incubation periods (28 days), the clusters have now been closed."

The ministry said rising case numbers are likely to be reported in the coming days as it steps up efforts to detect new cases.

MOH also gave an update on vaccination in Singapore, noting that around 6.84 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered under the national vaccination programme.

Some 4.16 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, with 2.79 million people having completed the full vaccination regimen.

Over the past 28 days, 10 patients were admitted to intensive care or required oxygen supplementation. One patient died.

Among them, seven were unvaccinated, while three had received one dose of the vaccine. None was fully vaccinated.

There are 332 Covid-19 patients still in hospital, including one in critical condition in intensive care, and five who require oxygen support.

The locally transmitted cases on Tuesday included 26 new unlinked cases. There were also 13 imported cases, taking Singapore's total cases of Covid-19 infection to 195.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community increased from 37 cases in the week before to 643 cases in the past week.

The number of unlinked cases in the community also rose from 10 cases in the week before to 68 cases in the past week.