SINGAPORE — An outbreak of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease (HFMD) at NTUC’s My First Skool pre-school at Punggol Waterway Point has prompted the mall to close its play areas for children as a precaution while cleaning operations get underway.

The two play areas, Wonderland and Happy Park, which has a water play area, are popular with families and were open to all visitors to the mall.

A spokesperson from Waterway Point told TODAY they would remain closed for the time being: “We have stepped up our efforts and carried out another thorough round of cleaning and disinfection at the play areas... We have also placed signs to advise parents against allowing their children to enter the play areas if they feel unwell.” The spokesperson did not say when the play areas were closed.

My First Skool, which operates the pre-school at the mall, told TODAY that the outbreak was detected “progressively” from the second week of December. Twenty-three children were affected, of whom 20 have recovered. The last of the remaining three cases was reported on Jan 16.

There are 244 children at the pre-school, which remains listed on the Ministry of Health’s website as a school with “active clusters of prolonged transmission”. Typically, childcare centres and kindergartens with more than 10 HFMD cases and a transmission period of more than 16 days are listed.

A My First Skool spokesperson that it stopped all outdoor activities from mid-December when the first cases were reported. “Besides sanitising the centre daily, we have also added a stronger sanitisation/disinfection solution since last Friday,” she added.

HFMD is a viral infection that spreads through direct contact with the patient’s mucus, saliva, stool, and fluids from the blisters, and the infected person is most contagious during the duration of the illness. There is no specific treatment or vaccine for HFMD apart from the relief of symptoms, and parents are typically advised to keep their children home until they recover.

Preliminary figures from MOH’s website showed that there were 501 cases of HFMD infections in the first week of this year ending Jan 7.

On Thursday (Jan 19), Punggol North Community Sports Club shared the information of the HFMD outbreak on its Facebook page, advising parents to refrain from allowing their children to play at the mall’s water-play area.

Dr Clarence Yeo of Killiney Medical Clinic said that HFMD is usually spread through close contact, and closing the common play areas was a precautionary measure. Adequate filtration systems, as well chlorinating the water, would help reduce the risk of transmission in a play area, he added.

Mr Ng Ming Teck, 37, a teacher and father of two daughters who are four years old and 18 months old, visits Waterway Point around twice a week for grocery shopping and because his older daughter attends music lessons there. He said he would still go to the mall although he would avoid the play areas for the next two to three weeks. “I’m not overly worried because I know HFMD outbreaks occur often,” he said.

Part-time worker Tan Sharin, 32, whose child is turning three this year and goes to My First Skool at Waterway Point, said that the school had been transparent about the details of the infections: “When there’s a case, they will… get the (cleaning) companies to sanitise the centre after school hours, after 7pm. And they will post on the parents’ portal (on the My First Skool mobile app) to tell us how many HFMD cases there are today, from which class, the (infected child’s) last attendance in school, and so forth.

“When there are such cases, they will not combine classes for activities to minimise the (disease) spreading.”