As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Singapore, a total of 34 new community cases have been reported as of noon on Wednesday (May 19). Among those infected are five students and two pre-school teachers according to a report on CNA.
This clearly shows that there has been an uptick in the number of affected staff of preschools in Singapore.
About 30 of the new community infections are linked to previous cases, while there are four that are currently unlinked.
The Ministry informed the media that four of the cases were imported and were placed on stay-home notice upon their arrival in Singapore. The country reported a total of 38 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, thus taking the total tally to 61,689 cases.
The good news is that no new cases were reported in foreign workers' dormitories.
Preschools Affected: 5 Students And 2 Teachers Test Positive
Among the new community cases are three primary school students from St Anthony's Canossian, St Stephen's and White Sands. All of them are linked to the Changi Airport cluster.
A student from Yu Ying Secondary School is linked to a new cluster, while a student from Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Kindergarten tested positive for COVID-19 is linked to the Learning Point cluster.
Preschools Affected: Learning Point Cluster Grows
Three more cases have been added to the Learning Point tuition centre cluster taking it to 27.
Among them is a six-year-old permanent resident who studies at Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Kindergarten. The boy is a household contact of a previously confirmed case, who is a student at Yu Neng Primary School and attended classes at Learning Point.
New clusters come up
In addition to these numbers, five new clusters have been identified on Wednesday.
- The first case is linked to Jin Tai Tong Food Industries.
- A cluster linked to Sms Infocomm (Singapore) now has a total of three infections. A 29-year-old Malaysian woman who works there was linked to the cluster on Wednesday.
- The third new cluster is linked to a 29-year-old Singaporean who works as a digital web designer. Among the people linked to him is a 65-year-old Singaporean man who works at SP Trading and a 64-year-old Singaporean homemaker.
- The fourth new cluster comprises three more cases linked to a 77-year-old Singaporean who is a homemaker.
The remaining clusters are linked to a 22-year-old Singaporean woman who worked at Invade.
Jump in Community Cases
The spike in community cases in Singapore is a reason to worry. According to MOH, the number of new cases in the community has increased from 49 cases in the week before to 187 cases in the past week.
The unlinked cases in the community have also increased from nine cases in the week before to 49 cases in the past week.
There are 221 cases still in the hospital. Most of them are stable or improving, and five are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
Vaccination Status In Singapore
Several changes were recently made to the country's vaccination strategy. Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was authorised by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) to be used for children between 12 and 15 years old.
The interval between the first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine has also been extended to between six and eight weeks.
While the authorities have introduced tighter social distancing rules, to ensure all the citizens are safe. As parents, even you can't let your guards down.
Even after your kids are vaccinated, please ensure that they follow the COVID guidelines strictly. Till the situation is brought under control, don't step out of homes unless necessary. Wear your masks and sanitise your hands to keep the infection away. Stay safe and eat healthy!
News source: CNA
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