Coronavirus: Singapore arrests 20 linked to karaoke bar cluster; Thailand’s Koh Samui reopens
- Indonesia is bracing for its Covid-19 outbreak to become even worse after a near vertical increase in new cases
- Australia reported a slowdown in new Covid-19 cases in Sydney on Thursday, but Melbourne was ordered into a five-day lockdown
Investigations are ongoing against the operators of three establishments for breach of safe management measures, the Singapore Police Force said in a statement. Police have arrested 20 women, among them South Koreans, Malaysians, Thai and Vietnamese, for alleged vice-related activities at the lounges. Another four establishments, currently operating as food and beverage outlets, have been identified as having ongoing transmission of the virus and are being closed for two weeks for deep cleaning, the Ministry of Health said.
The probes and arrests came after the health ministry reported on Wednesday 56 new Covid-19 infections, the highest daily total since April 2020, with 41 of these belonging to the lounge cluster. Singapore recorded another 42 cases on Thursday, with the bulk again linked to the cluster.
Singapore doesn’t plan to reverse its recent easing of social gathering restrictions, as it did after prior cluster outbreaks, since there’s a higher level of vaccination now, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung told reporters on Wednesday.
More than 70 per cent of Singapore’s population has now had at least one dose of the vaccine, one of the highest rates in Asia, with free vaccine appointments available island-wide to those 12 years of age or older.
“We are in a much more resilient position than before,” Ong said. “For now, we will keep the rules that has come into effect since Monday, and so there will not be any reversal.”