SINGAPORE, July 15 — The police will take action against KTV lounges and their hostesses, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said yesterday (July 14). This was after the Ministry of Health (MoH) recorded 56 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases, 41 of them linked to a rapidly growing cluster involving these karaoke lounges. 

One of the 41 new infections linked to the KTV cluster is a passenger on a World Dream cruise ship, which had to return to dock in Singapore yesterday morning, several hours earlier than scheduled, so that the man could disembark for further tests.

"For this to happen, the police will take action… And they are taking this very seriously on the lounges that have contravened the rules and also on the hostesses, who also might have contravened the rules,” Ong said while soeaking to the media on Wednesday.

He also said that the police would be issuing a statement on the matter "shortly”.

As for the patrons and customers, Ong said that the government is urging them to come forward to get tested, adding that the entire testing process is confidential and their privacy will be protected. 

"I know some will be wondering: ‘What if I'm tested positive? And then will there be enforcement action taken against me?’. 

"The breaching of safe distancing measures, that enforcement comes under the Ministry of Health. As of now, the Ministry of Health, our key priority is to find out who has been infected,” he added. 

For those who might be uncomfortable about coming forward to get tested, Ong urged them to stay at home in their own room, isolate and test themselves with an antigen rapid test kit and monitor their health for 14 days.

Ong said that the formation and growth of the KTV cluster is a "troubling and disappointing” development. 

"We knew about cases like that happening in Korea, in Hong Kong… Nightlife (means) people coming very close together, some with hostesses, and leading to big clusters,” he said. "So we have never allowed such activities for more than one year.” 

MoH said on Monday that it is investigating a group of Vietnamese social hostesses with Covid-19 who had frequented KTV lounges or clubs now operating as food-and-beverage (F&B) outlets. 

This includes special testing operations for all staff members of Supreme KTV at Far East Shopping Centre, Empress KTV at Tanglin Shopping Centre and Club Dolce at Balestier Point.

On Tuesday, it expanded the testing for employees of two more clubs: Wu Bistro at Golden Mile Complex on Beach Road and Club De Zara at Textile Centre along Jalan Sultan.

MoH added that it will also extend free Covid-19 testing to members of the public who had visited these premises, any similar lounges or clubs operating as F&B outlets, as well as those who had interacted with the Vietnamese social hostesses in any setting between June 29 and July 12.

Ong was asked if it is possible to find out who the patrons of these KTV lounges are through TraceTogether data instead of waiting for them to come forward to get tested.

"We have tested 100 over of customers and close to 100 staff already,” he said.

"Those numbers are based on knowledge of who works there as well as the information we can get through TraceTogether and SafeEntry but we suspect, and the police also suspect, that the data we have been using from TraceTogether and SafeEntry are not comprehensive considering that these KTV lounges are allegedly operating illegally to start with,” he added.

Ong said that the government therefore needs to go beyond that and contact-tracing interviews are now ongoing.

"I can’t emphasise enough that there is a limit to how much we can use SafeEntry and so it requires customers, if you have been (to these places), to get tested… The testing process is confidential." ― TODAY