Most students with Covid-19 linked to private tutor, no evidence of school-based transmission: Lawrence Wong

SINGAPORE - There is no evidence of school-based Covid-19 transmissions so far, even as a few new infections among students will be reported, said Education Minister Lawrence Wong.

The infections reported so far all took place outside of school but even so, safe management measures in schools have been tightened, said Mr Wong, who is the co-chair of a Covid-19 multi-ministry task force.

"But we will continue to monitor this very closely and see if additional measures are necessary," he said at a press briefing on Friday (May 14).

Principals and teachers have been reminded to be alert and vigilant, to make sure that students who are in schools can continue learning safely, he added.

Most students who were reported to have tested positive recently are linked to a tutor in a private tuition school, said the Health Ministry's director of medical services Kenneth Mak.

Prof Mak said MOH will report later on Friday that a few students in schools have tested positive.

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He said at the press conference: "At this point in time, epidemiological investigations are still ongoing, but most of these students are in fact linked to one of our cases reported yesterday, Case 63131."

He added that the students were picked up as a result of epidemiological investigations and testing while they were under quarantine.

Earlier on Friday, it was reported that more schools will move to full home-based learning after pupils tested positive for Covid-19.

Two pupils each from Kong Hwa School and St Stephen's School have been confirmed to have Covid-19 infection, according to notices seen by The Straits Times.

This was after it was announced on Thursday that a Yio Chu Kang Primary pupil was among 24 new community cases.

These schools bring the total number of schools affected by the recent surge in Covid-19 community cases in the past two weeks to at least five.

MOH on Thursday night said the tutor, 50, is a Singaporean woman who works at an agency called Learning Point. She developed diarrhoea and a headache on May 3, a fever on May 6 and cough on May 11.

She then sought medical treatment at a neighbourhood clinic on May 11 and was tested for Covid-19. Her test result came back positive the next day and her serology test result was pending, MOH said.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.