First School-Based COVID-19 Transmission Has Happened in S’pore in ACS (Junior)

By
Sarah
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Cue parents and teachers groaning in despair.

If you’ve been keeping up with the news, you’ll know that multiple Anglo-Chinese School (ACS Junior) students have tested positive for the coronavirus.

In other words, it’s Another Cluster in Singapore, but this time, it’s in a place you won’t have expected: a school.

An 11-year-old student is linked to three other COVID-19 cases—two of which are his classmates in ACS (Junior) and a 46-year-old Singaporean investment banker at DBS.

When one of his classmates was confirmed to have the virus last Wednesday (19 May), the student was placed on quarantine. The next day, he had developed a fever, cough and runny nose and took a polymerase chain reaction (PCR test).

His test results came back positive on Friday (21 May), with the Ministry of Education (MOE) informing the school on the same day.

He was last in school on 18 May.

In addition, a few other classmates have been placed under quarantine or leave of absence as they were in close contact with the first infected student of their school.

Thankfully, ACS (Junior) (and all other schools, of course) has already moved to full home-based learning for all its students since 19 May. MOE also noted that the school had been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected as an “added precautionary measure”.

MOE urged all parents to comply with its screening policy to keep their children at home and inform the school immediately if they have household members who have acute respiratory infections, or have reason to believe they might have been infected with COVID-19.

In the statement they released, the ministry noted that the new case was “a clear reminder to all of us and our stakeholders, especially our parents, that we need to work together to keep our schools safe.”

They also reminded students to seek medical attention immediately if they feel unwell, continue practising good personal hygiene and adhere to safe management measures.

And when we talk about school, we can’t leave out another school.

Singapore Polytechnic To Expand Testing Exercise

Speaking of school clusters, there seems to be no end in sight for SP’s COVID-19 cases, though technically, it’s more of a “campus” instead of a school.

On Thursday (20 May), another of its students tested positive for the virus. The individual is a 19-year-old female Malaysian national who had last gone to school on 15 May.

She had developed a fever on the same day and sought medical treatment at a GP clinic. She then underwent an antigen rapid test (ART) and PCR test, both of which came back positive.

After three positive cases at the polytechnic were reported, the school began testing its 6,500 students and staff members on 19 May.

Having been on campus on or after 29 April, these 6,500 people from five schools in SP are part of the group that have been prioritised to be swabbed.

The five schools include the School of Computing, the Media, Arts & Design School (MAD), the School of Business, and the School of Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering.

After Thursday’s new case, the school has since announced that it would expand testing to include all staff members and students from the School of Chemical & Life Sciences.

496 Active Cases

There are currently 249 confirmed cases who are still in hospital. Of these, most are stable or improving, and 4 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

247 are isolated and cared for at community facilities. These are those who have mild symptoms, or are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19.

32 have passed away from complications due to COVID-19 infection.

Featured Image: Google Maps

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Sarah
Email: [email protected]