The Ministry of Health (MOH) is taking a four-ring approach to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the light of the KTV cluster that has grown to 120 cases, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said yesterday.
There are 120 cases linked to the cluster as at yesterday. The index case tested positive on Sunday.
More than 2,000 staff and patrons of the affected KTV joints have been quarantined, while more than 1,000 others who were not identified by SafeEntry and TraceTogether data have heeded the Government's call to get tested.
Many more members of the public who came into contact with confirmed cases, or visited the locations where the affected nightlife establishments are located, have also been affected.
Mr Ong said that about 2,000 people who may not have gone to the KTV lounges but could have come into contact with a confirmed case somewhere else have been issued a health risk warning via SMS.
These individuals will be required under the law to get tested at a designated testing centre and self-isolate until they receive a negative test from their first polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
Even if they test negative, they could still be incubating the virus, said MOH. Thus, as an added precaution, they must limit their interactions with others for 14 days from their last exposure and undertake only essential activities in this period.
These individuals will also be issued with self-test antigen rapid test (ART) kits when they do their first PCR test, and must self-administer an ART test on the seventh day from their last exposure to confirm that they are not infected.
They must also undergo another PCR test at a designated testing centre around the 14th day from their date of last known exposure, for assurance that they are not incubating the virus.
Mr Ong said that several thou-sand more people who visited the locations where the affected nightlife establishments are could be issued a health risk alert via SMS by MOH.
Unlike a health risk warning, these individuals are not subject to actions required by the law. But they should monitor their health and limit their interactions with others for 14 days from their last exposure as an added precaution.
They are encouraged to also purchase self-test ART kits from retail pharmacies and perform self-tests regularly over the 14 days.
Mr Ong said: "The challenge of this (KTV) cluster... is that we don't have full information of who the customers are, where they have been to and where they are now."
He added that it is hard to gather them together and mount a special operation.
"MOH is doing whatever we can to aggressively trace and test them," said the minister.
