ABC Brickworks Food Centre quieter than usual following news of mandatory TB screening

SINGAPORE - The crowd at ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre in Jalan Bukit Merah was thinner on Jan 6, as government officers talked to workers there and residents at nearby blocks about having a tuberculosis (TB) screening.

This comes a day after the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced that mandatory TB screening will be conducted for residents and workers at Blocks 1 and 3, Jalan Bukit Merah; ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre; and Thong Kheng Seniors Activity Centre @ Queenstown.

MOH officers will continue talking to residents and answering their questions about the screening until Jan 9.

The food centre seemed fairly busy during lunchtime, but Mr Danny Lim, who works at a stall selling chicken wings, said it was quieter than usual.

Mr Lim told The Straits Times that it was common to see all the tables at the food centre occupied during lunchtime on the weekends, but there were empty tables on Jan 6.

Over at the Lao Ban Soya Beancurd store at Block 7, Jalan Bukit Merah, which faces the food centre, worker George Lim, 72, said it was very quiet.

He learnt about the upcoming TB screening in the news, and was eager to go for it, even though he works in a block that is not included in the screening exercise.

The store's customers mostly drop by after a trip to the market and food centre, he said.

"If I do the screening, I would feel at peace," he added.

TB screening is mandatory for residents of the affected blocks and centres, where the risk of transmission is higher. MOH is offering voluntary screening for those who are at lower risk, such as former residents and tenants of Blocks 1 and 3.

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At Block 3, which comprises one-room Housing Board rental flats, Mr Mohan Van, who is in his 60s, said he is a regular volunteer delivering free vegetarian food packets from an Indian temple to other residents in his block on weekends.

He had to do that by himself after news of the TB screening scared helpers away.

"Normally, there are other volunteers, but they dare not come here today. So, I called my 'bodyguard' to watch the food basket while I deliver the food packets," he said, referring to his elderly neighbour beside him.

The entire screening exercise aims to mitigate the risk of TB transmission in the area, after 10 new cases were detected there between February 2022 and July 2023, and found to be linked to earlier cases in Block 2, Jalan Bukit Merah.

MOH conducted on-site TB screening from May to August 2022, after a cluster of seven TB cases linked to Block 2 was identified.

The ministry said on Jan 5 that on-site TB screening is offered as a precautionary measure to protect residents living in the area by identifying undetected active TB cases, and preventing further transmission as far as possible.

TB is curable. All 10 new cases found in the area have started treatment and no longer pose any public health risk, MOH said.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.