3 more students from different primary schools test positive for Covid-19

SINGAPORE — Three more primary school students from different institutions have tested positive for Covid-19, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said.

In a media release on Tuesday (May 18), MOE said that the source of infections of all three cases had been from outside the schools.

The first is a student from Yuhua Primary School who tested positive for the coronavirus on May 17.

The student was last in school on May 14 and was well, but was then placed on quarantine as his household member had tested positive that day.

“All his close contacts in the school will be placed on quarantine order and will be required to undergo the Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction swab tests,” the ministry said.

The second is a student from Catholic High School (Primary) who tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday.

He was last in school on May 12 and was well, but was placed on quarantine from May 12 since he had attended classes run by an infected 50-year-old tutor at Learning Point tuition centre in Parkway Centre.

The last is a student from CHIJ (Katong) Primary who tested positive on May 17. She was last in school on May 11 and was well, but was quarantined from last Friday.

She had attended the same external student care centre — Seedlings World Student Care@Frankel — as an earlier confirmed case from St Stephen’s School.

“As she has been isolated during the infectious period, there were no close contacts in her school that would need to be placed on quarantine order,” MOE said.

The ministry said that Yuhua Primary School has already started home-based learning while Catholic High School (Primary) and CHIJ (Katong) Primary will start on this from Wednesday.

“Beyond existing safe management measures, the affected schools have implemented additional precautions to ensure the safety of students and staff, minimise the risk of transmission, and prevent the development of school-based clusters.

“This includes the thorough cleaning and disinfection of school premises,” MOE said.

As of Tuesday, 14 primary school students from various schools have been linked to the cluster at the Learning Point tuition centre in Parkway Centre. 

Two days before, MOE said that all primary, secondary, junior college and Millennia Institute students, including those from special education schools, will move to full home-based learning from May 19 until the end of the current school term on May 28.

Preschools and student care centres will remain open to support parents who need to work.