Residents in 2 Hougang HDB Blocks to Go Through Swab Tests After Viral Fragments Found in Wastewater

I don’t want to alarm you, but someone is going through your poop.

Reader: My… poop?

Oh, not just your poop. Your pee too.

Reader: Oh, that’s completely normal then. 

There’s nothing weird going on here, of course. The authorities are testing wastewater in residential areas across the country to fish out undetected infections.

And if they happen to find the coronavirus chilling in that wastewater, then a whole HDB block might have to be tested.

Residents in 2 Hougang HDB Blocks to Go Through Swab Tests After Viral Fragments Found in Wastewater

After the news that residents in one Yishun HDB block had to undergo COVID-19 testing came another bombshell.

Now, residents in another two HDB blocks located in Hougang have been asked to go for swab tests after surveillance measures and wastewater testing detected likely cases of COVID-19 transmission there.

The three blocks are:

• Block 745 Yishun Street 72
• Block 501 Hougang Avenue 8
• Block 507 Hougang Avenue 8

The mandatory tests will be carried out for all residents living in these blocks today (1 Jun) and tomorrow (2 Jun).

The authorities first detected six infections in the Yishun block from two households. Wastewater testing then detected coronavirus viral fragments in the block.

As for the two HDB blocks in Hougang, it was the discovery of viral fragments that prompted the authorities to carry out mandatory testing there. Currently, no COVID-19 cases have been detected at the two blocks.

Leaflets & Text Messages Will Be Sent Out

The tests for all three blocks today and tomorrow will be conducted between 9:00am and 4:00pm.

Leaflets and SMS notifications will be sent out to residents to provide them with more information, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

“Residents are also advised to monitor their health closely and consult a doctor immediately if they feel unwell.”

Why Test An Entire Block?

In a press conference by the COVID-19 task force, Singapore’s director of medical services, Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, was asked a question that’s on many residents’ minds: why test entire HDB blocks?

“When we pick up several cases that occur within a fixed geographic vicinity, then we have to be concerned that there may also be chains of transmission that occur to other people that live in that same area,” he answered.

“And this is the reason why we would then extend and carry out testing operations in a housing precinct involving several blocks of flats,” he added.

What’s more, infected residents—including those who have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic—could still be shedding the virus in their stool.

Since they’re hard to detect but could still be infectious, mass testing will help to prevent them from spreading the disease further.

Yesterday (31 May), PM Lee said during his speech that tests will not only be carried out for potential cases, as extensive testing will become routine.

“We will not only test to identify infections when a new case pops up,” he said.