Compulsory swab tests will be done on all students and staff of Punggol Primary School on Thursday (29 July) and Friday after a few COVID-19 cases were identified.
According to daily updates from the Ministry of Health (MOH), a new cluster linked to a cleaner at the school was detected on Tuesday and it later grew to seven cases on Wednesday.
Due to this, swab tests for all students and staff members of the school will be carried out as part of precautionary efforts to protect them and prevent any possible spread to the community, said the Ministry of Education (MOE) in an article by Channel News Asia (CNA).
It added that the school will also be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before it can reopen its doors for the swab tests.
Given the detection of cases at the school, all students will be required to move to home-based learning from Thursday up to 6 August.
MOE noted that the six cases involve two contract cleaners and one non-teaching staff member. It added that these three cases were “not in close contact with students and teachers”.
“Separately, one teacher and two students have also tested positive. The teacher is not a close contact of the students. Investigations are under way to see if the cases are linked,” the Ministry elaborated.
Despite providing details about the six cases, MOE did not specify if these cases are linked to the cluster related to the cleaner or if they are linked to other cases.
All close contacts of the detected cases have been place under quarantine order or leave of absence.
“MOE will continue to monitor the situation closely, and work with the school and parents to ensure the well-being of staff and students,” said the Education Ministry.
It added, “Students and staff should also see medical attention immediately if they feel unwell, continue practising good personal hygiene and adhere to safe management measures. Personal and social responsibility will play an important role in keeping our schools safe.”
As of Wednesday noon (28 July), Singapore recorded 136 new cases of COVID-19 infection, bringing the country’s total infection cases to 64,580.
Of the 136 cases, 130 of them are locally transmitted infections with 27 linked to the Jurong Fishery port cluster and two belong to the KTV cluster.
The Jurong Fishery Port cluster has grown to 932 cases and remains to be the largest active cluster in the country.
As for Singapore’s vaccination programme, a total of 7,256,331 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered as of 26 July.
“The total number of doses administered was 7,256,331, covering 4,254,789 individuals. 3,122,180 individuals have completed the full vaccination regimen, consisting of 120,638 recovered persons who received at least one dose and 3,001,542 who received their second dose,” said MOH.
