Out of the 4 New Cases in Bukit Panjang ITH, 2 Are Bus Captains Driving 972

Bukit Panjang Integrated Transport Hub (BPITH) has been in the headlines recently, not for good reason.

It was declared as a Covid-19 cluster.

It initially has 4 Covid-19 cases, all of them bus drivers.

And then, 4 more community cases were linked to the cluster.

Well, there’s a new development from the cluster today. Again.

Out of the 4 New Cases in Bukit Panjang ITH, 2 Are Bus Captains Driving 972

Yesterday (31 Jul 2020), SMRT revealed that the four new cases detected are two bus drivers driving bus service 972 and two interchange staff.

All of them are likely to have past infections and are no longer in their infectious phase according to their test results.

However, they are still in isolation, awaiting instructions from the Ministry of Health (MOH).

SMRT also assures that the vehicles and premises that the 4 new cases had interacted with have been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.

In addition, other staff members who were in close contact with the four have been placed on leave of absence.

If you’re a frequent commuter on bus service 972, don’t panic because that’s considered a form of “transient contact”.

And transient contact, by nature, has a low risk of transmission for Covid-19 according to the authorities.

Places Linked To BPITH Cluster

On 30 July, MOH added 8 places to the list, 5 of which are close to Bukit Panjang ITH.

The places include:

• Hillion Mall (Linked to BPITH): FairPrice, Watsons, McDonald’s, My Briyani House
• Bukit Panjang ITH: Mr Teh Tarik
• Causeway Point
• Al-Sahira Restaurant
• myCK outlet

You can view the details below:

You can check MOH’s full list here.

If you’re more of a visual learner, you might want to check out CNA’s microsite which shows you an interactive map of MOH’s list of places:

All closed contacts have been identified, MOH says.

However, if you happen to be in the area within the same timeframe as the Covid-19 cases, monitor your health for the next 14 days and go see a doctor if you show even the slightest symptoms.

Although I’ll add that no matter whether you were in the same area or not, it’s always a good idea to just keep a close eye on your health.

You don’t have to avoid these places because once identified, the National Environment Agency (NEA) engage with the locations’ operators to do a thorough cleaning and disinfection of the area.

In other words, they’ll probably be one of the safest (read: cleanest) places in Singapore after that’s done.

Also, after the four bus drivers were detected, SMRT has stepped up cleaning of the buses and facilities within the transport hub, so you’re actually safer than 90% of the other commuters who don’t pass through BPITH.

In the meantime, you can also do your part by downloading the TraceTogether app. If you’re still worried about privacy, then watch this video (and also subscribe to our YouTube channel, please?):