Tighter measures will be implemented to manage access to wet markets where Covid-19 clusters or cases have surfaced.
From today, mandatory SafeEntry check-in requirements will be enforced at more than 20 markets, and temporary fencing will be put up by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and town councils, said the Health Ministry (MOH) yesterday.
At the same time, unvaccinated individuals, especially seniors who are most at risk of serious illness, are urged to stay at home, given the rise in community cases.
"While we have conducted aggressive public health actions to detect such cases, we are concerned that there remain cryptic transmission chains which might continue to spread within our community," said the ministry.
"The porous nature of wet markets makes contact tracing and isolation less straightforward."
MOH said it is particularly concerned because wet markets serve a range of customers, including the elderly, some of whom remain unvaccinated.
The additional controls will better enable contact tracing to ring-fence cases, MOH noted, adding that similar controls had already been implemented at 13 markets since the circuit breaker period last year. Customers will not be allowed to enter once the number of people in each market reaches the stipulated allowable capacity.
At the weekend, clusters were detected at two markets - Hong Lim Market and Food Centre and Chong Boon Market and Food Centre. These clusters were likely "seeded" by fishmongers and stallholders who had visited Jurong Fishery Port to collect stock to sell at these markets and food centres, said MOH.
The cluster at the port stood at 63 cases as at noon yesterday.
Cases have also been detected at Amoy Street Food Centre, Chong Pang Market and Food Centre, Whampoa Wet Market, Telok Blangah Crescent Block 11, Taman Jurong Market, Redhill Market, Geylang Serai Malay Market, Geylang Bahru Market, 527 Ang Mo Kio Market, 726 West Coast Wet Market, and Bukit Timah Wet Market.
Singapore reported a total of 92 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, comprising 88 locally transmitted cases and four imported cases.
All unvaccinated individuals, especially the elderly, should stay home as much as possible over the next few weeks, MOH stressed.
"We urge members of the public to reach out to your elderly relatives or neighbours who remain unvaccinated to see what assistance they may require, for example, to buy daily necessities."
Even those who have had their shots but have unvaccinated elderly family members at home should avoid crowded places or extensive social interactions, MOH added. This is because vaccinated people may still get infected with the virus and inadvertently bring the virus home to these unvaccinated seniors.
MOH also reminded people to limit their social gatherings.
"With the upcoming (Hari Raya Haji) public holiday on July 20, individuals should continue to limit their overall number of social gatherings to not more than two per day, whether it is to another household, or to meet with friends and family members in a public place."
And as earlier announced, groups dining at F&B outlets will be limited to two people from today, down from five. However, up to five fully vaccinated individuals will still be allowed to dine together in restaurants, though not at coffee shops or hawker centres, where the limit remains at two.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the recent large clusters at KTV lounges and Jurong Fishery Port are a reminder of why everyone must get vaccinated, especially seniors who are vulnerable to serious illness if they are infected.
"The most important way to keep ourselves safe is vaccinating everyone," he added, noting that Singapore is on track to fully inoculate two-thirds of its population by National Day on Aug 9.
"Meanwhile please keep up our regular habits of wearing masks, washing hands and maintaining safe distancing. This will slow down the spread of the virus, and help to bring outbreaks like the KTV and Jurong Fishery Port clusters under control."
