In Brief: Swabs for 6,500 at poly after 3 test positive

Singapore Polytechnic (SP) started testing about 6,500 students, staff and vendors for Covid-19 from yesterday after three students earlier tested positive for the virus.

Though there is no evidence to show these cases are linked to each other, SP said that given the three positive cases, and the locations and proximity of their schools on campus, the Ministry of Health had decided to take an additional measure to reduce the risk of transmission at campus.

The swab test was prioritised for students, staff and food court vendors from five schools in SP who were on campus on or after April 29. All those affected will be informed by the Health Ministry via SMS on the details of their tests.

The polytechnic, which has more than 14,000 students and staff, has moved all lessons online until May 28.

A number of food and beverage outlets have found themselves in the soup.

The licensee of Gemma Steakhouse at the National Gallery was fined $14,000 yesterday for holding a Halloween-themed dinner for about 75 diners in October last year.

The restaurant took a large booking for the dinner and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent intermingling among the diners.

Food Village and The Sushi Bar Dining, both located in Ngee Ann City in Orchard Road, were fined $1,000 each for breaching safe management measures such as maintaining distance between patrons.

Both eateries were caught in the run-up to the new Covid-19 restrictions that came into effect on Sunday, the same day nine people were caught and later fined for gathering in groups of more than two in parks and beaches.

HooHa Restaurant & Cafe in Pasir Panjang will be closed for 30 days, and Darts Legend in one-north for 20 days, for Covid-19 breaches.

This is HooHa's third offence and Darts Legend's second, said the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment yesterday.