FOR the past 10 months, Singapore did well against the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, this all changed when several karaoke lounges in the country suddenly became Singapore’s latest virus cluster, making up for majority of the 56 cases the country had recorded on Wednesday (July 14).
According to news reports, a total of 42 new COVID-19 cases are linked to these lounges, which typically see hostesses interacting with customers.
The index case has been identified as a Vietnamese woman on s short-term visit pass who had gone to the doctor last weekend with symptoms of an acute respiratory infection.
The woman – who had frequented many KTV outlets and nightclubs – was tested and founded to be positive for COVID-19.
A total of 60 COVID-19 cases were reported in Singapore on Wednesday, 56 of which were locally transmitted. Of the community cases, 17 were linked to previous cases and have already been placed under quarantine.
Another 33 were linked to previous cases and were detected through surveillance, while the last six are unlinked.
The inclusion of Wednesday’s new cases brings the size of the KTV lounge cluster to 53, making it one of the country’s largest active clusters.
What is important to point out is that this is not the first time that nightlife establishments have been linked to COVID-19 outbreaks.
In Hong Kong, for example, a number of COVID-19 cases were linked to over 20 dance clubs in the city in November last year.
The South China Morning Post reported that the cluster surfaced after a 75-year-old businesswoman’s visit to a dance club in Wan Chai.
A number of prominent people were linked to the cluster, and in response to the infections, the Hong Kong government made COVID-19 testing compulsory for the first time. By January 2021, over 730 people had tested positive.
Similar cases were reported in Taiwan, where there was a sudden surge in community transmissions after 16 cases were linked to teahouses in Taipei’s red light district in a single day, and in South Korea’s gay clubs, which saw more than 130 people testing positive.
And so, what do these nightlife-linked cases tell you?
Simple – that nobody is safe from the coronavirus.
Not the rich dance-club-hopping tai tai living next door, not your karaoke-mad buddies across the Causeway, and certainly not ordinary Malaysians like you and me.
So, let’s all be vigilant and do our parts to flatten the COVID-19 pandemic curve, eh? – July 15, 2021.
