Jurong West Sec 1 student among Covid-19 cases confirmed on July 10

SINGAPORE — A Secondary 1 student from Jurong West Secondary School was among the new Covid-19 cases announced on Friday (July 10), the Ministry of Education (MOE) said.

In a statement on Saturday night, the MOE said that the 13-year-old student is linked to a previously confirmed case, also a Sec 1 student from the same school, that was announced by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on July 7.

Ms Liew Wei Li, director of schools at MOE, said: “For the latest case, she was last in school on July 3, was well, and remains without symptoms,” .

She added that the student, being a close contact of a previous case, had been placed on a home quarantine order by MOH since July 6. As part of MOH’s expanded testing regime, the student was swabbed and tested positive.

All remaining close contacts of the previously confirmed case — numbering about 70 students and staff members — have tested negative for Covid-19, Ms Liew said.

“The school has been cleaned and disinfected several times since the last weekend. Further disinfection and cleaning of premises is also taking place today,” she added. 

MOH had confirmed 191 new Covid-19 cases on July 10. Of these, 16 are in the community, including seven Singaporeans, five work pass holders and four work permit holders.

As a result of the latest case of the 13-year-old, MOH will also issue home quarantine orders to another six students and four staff members.

The school had placed all Sec 1 students on home-based learning on July 8 and 9 pending the outcome of MOH investigations.

As an added precaution, this will be extended until July 18, before the start of the one-week mid-term break.

This will allow the Sec 1 classes to continue uninterrupted with lessons from their own teachers despite being on home quarantine orders, Ms Liew said.

All other levels will resume classes in school next Monday, she added.