SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Tuesday (July 13) night that there is likely ongoing transmission at three KTV clubs and lounges.
They are Club Dolce (Balestier Point), WU Bistro (Golden Mile Complex) and Club De Zara (Textile Centre).
It is investigating cases of Covid-19 infection among Vietnamese social hostesses who had frequented KTV lounges or clubs currently operating as food and beverage outlets.
The hostesses' close social contacts are also being questioned.
MOH said: "To break any potential chain of transmission and enable deep cleaning, these premises have been closed to all members of the public starting from July 13 to July 27.
"To quickly uncover any community infection cases, we will be conducting special testing operations for all staff of WU Bistro and Club De Zara."
MOH also said free Covid-19 testing will be extended to all visitors of the two locations from June 29 to Tuesday.
The free testing will also be made available to visitors of similar KTV lounges or clubs operating as food and beverage outlets, and to anyone who had interacted with Vietnamese social hostesses in any setting during that period.
MOH added: "This is in addition to the testing operations announced (on Monday) for staff and visitors of Supreme KTV (Far East Shopping Centre), Empress KTV (Tanglin Shopping Centre) and Club Dolce (Balestier Point)."
Club Dolce in Balestier Point. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
MOH announced 19 new locally transmitted cases on Tuesday, of which eight belonged to an emerging KTV cluster.
Five of these have been linked to previous cases and quarantined, while 10 were linked and detected through surveillance.
Four cases are currently unlinked.
This is the highest number of locally transmitted cases since June 17, when 20 locally transmitted cases were announced.
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There were also seven imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notice or isolated on arrival in Singapore, said MOH.
Of these cases, five were detected upon arrival in Singapore, while two cases developed the illness during stay-home notice or isolation.
In total, 26 new coronavirus cases were confirmed as at Tuesday noon, taking Singapore's total to 62,744.
The number of new cases in the community has increased to 37 in the past week from 24 the week before.
The number of unlinked cases in the community has also increased to 12 in the past week from five in the week before, MOH said.
There are currently 22 active Covid-19 clusters, with three to 94 infections each.
Of the 94 patients who currently remain in hospital, most are well and under observation.
There are two people in critical condition in the intensive care unit while seven require oxygen supplementation.
Over the last 28 days, 22 local cases required oxygen supplementation, were admitted to the ICU or died.
Of these, 18 were not vaccinated, four were partially vaccinated and none were fully vaccinated.
Singapore has had 36 deaths from Covid-19 complications, while 15 who tested positive have died of other causes.
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Of these, 2,355,254 people received their second dose and have completed the full vaccination process.
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