So, why have we come to this stage whereby having bak kut teh in public will be illegal soon?
It’s partly due to the cluster in Changi Airport, and here’s how it could have started.
It (probably) started in the higher-risk countries’ arrivals
Yesterday (14 May), the Transport Minister (now Health Minister), Ong Ye Kung, has finally released the results of their investigation regarding the source of the Changi Airport cluster.
Advertisements
According to the minister, it all stemmed from the same zone – the zone that receives travellers from higher-risk countries, including South Asia.
The entire zone encompassing the finger pier, the conveyor belt and the immigration section is deemed to be hotspots for the infection.
This resulting in the first 20 people infected by COVID-19 in the Changi Airport cluster.
“From that zone, workers go have their lunch, go have their meals at the Terminal 3 basement (level) two commercial areas and the food court and we suspect that from there, it is transmitted to members of the public who visited the place,” he added.
In some ways, the Changi Airport cluster is similar to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) cluster that resulted in 44 cases after an infected nurse who worked at the ward was first reported to be infected on 27 April.
However, the airport cluster is definitely a lot more worrying and has since overtaken the TTSH cluster with 59 cases and rising, especially as more community cases are being discovered and linked to the Changi Airport cluster.
One of the community cases discovered to be linked to the Changi Airport cluster includes the 18-year-old Victoria Junior College student who was previously an unlinked case.
She was found to have visited the Kopitiam food court at Changi Airport Terminal 3 on the same day as two other infected people.
Advertisements
What is Being Done at the Moment?
Currently, the whole commercial area in Terminal 3 basement two is closed for deep cleaning.
And as an extra precaution, passenger terminal buildings and the Jewel Changi Airport will be reopened 14 days later on 27 May.
A massive testing effort is currently underway as well.
As many as 9,000 workers in Terminals 1 and 3, as well as Jewel Changi Airport, the retail and leisure entertainment complex at the airport, will need to be tested.
Out of the 9,000 workers, more than 7,500 have been tested. 6,000 results are already out and 6 were confirmed positive for the virus.
Advertisements
Visitors who have been to Changi Airport Terminal 3 from May 3 onwards will be given free COVID-19 testing too.
Of course, as part of the contact tracing measures, close contacts of earlier detected cases are all undergoing quarantine and will be tested periodically for the coronavirus.
And for the rest of us, having bak ku teh will be banned from tomorrow onwards.
Now, wear your masks because that’ll help a lot. Watch this video to the end and you’d understand:
Featured Image: Sing Studio / Shutterstock.com
Advertisements
These five GRCs could see the tightest battle in GE2025; here’s why:
Read Also:
- Trump Exempts Electronics from 125% China Tariffs, Sparing Smartphones and Computers
- Elderly Charity Shop Owner Baffled by Over 50 Boxes of Mystery Donation Blocking Store Entrance
- DNA from Two Men Discovered on Murdered Singaporean Woman’s Clothing as Court Orders Comparison with Main Suspect
- Former Police Officer Convicted in Fatal Maid Abuse Case That Left Victim Weighing Just 24kg
- Teen Arrested in Johor for Selling AI-Generated Fake Nudes of School Peers for RM2 Each
