Majority test negative in Bedok tuberculosis screening, 473 flagged for further checks

Four in five people among some 3,000 who went for tuberculosis screening in Bedok have tested negative for the disease. Of the remaining 473 people who tested positive, they will need to undergo a follow-up chest X-ray to determine if their infection is latent or active. The Communicable Diseases Agency expects that most of them will not be infectious and therefore do not pose a public health risk. The tests had been done as a precaution, after authorities detected 13 genetically similar cases across three clusters in Bedok Central between 2023 and February this year. Charlotte Lim reports.