Singapore tests thousands as unlinked virus cases raise concerns

Singapore will test thousands of people for Covid-19 as the number of infections unlinked to current clusters continued to rise.

Three Changi Airport employees and a junior college student were among those who registered positive for the virus in recent days, the health ministry said late Saturday. The government will expand testing to all workers at two of the airport’s terminals and its Jewel shopping mall, and all students, staff and visitors at the junior college.

The Ministry of Education said about 2,200 people associated with Victoria Junior College will undergo swab tests by Monday, while just over 100 people who are close contacts will be quarantined.

The health ministry didn’t provide the number of people who will be tested at Changi Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, and Jewel. There was no immediate reply to emails to the ministry outside of business hours seeking those figures.

Singapore has seen 10 cases per week of unlinked cases in the community in the past two weeks, the government said.

The threat had been easing for Singapore until a few weeks ago when new clusters started to emerge including cases with the variant of Covid-19 first detected in India. Tighter social-distancing measures kicked in for the country on Saturday with officials saying they were necessary to prevent a harsher lockdown similar to one last year.