Experts claim that people who contracted COVID-19 at Bukit Merah View Market and Hawker Centre in June typically had three things in common: They were unvaccinated, did not wear their masks properly and tended to touch fruit and vegetables with their bare hands.
These were the findings of a National Centre for Infectious Diseases study on the market cluster, which saw a total of 94 cases. All 182 market stalls were subsequently closed for two weeks. The Health Ministry subsequently conducted multiple rounds of testing which covered more than 200,000 residents.
As part of the study, researchers interviewed people affected by the market's closure, including stallholders and customers, said Adjunct Associate Professor Matthias Toh, who is director of the National Public Health and Epidemiology Unit. The study's findings suggest that stallholders might want to consider pre-packaging their produce, Prof Toh told straitstimes.com.
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