Coronavirus: My First Skool pre-school in Ang Mo Kio to close for 14 days after teaching staff tests positive

All affected staff and children will be placed on a leave of absence during the closure. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

Correspondent

Updated

Published

Apr 08, 2020, 10:39 PM

SINGAPORE - A My First Skool pre-school centre in Ang Mo Kio will be closed for 14 days after a member of the teaching staff tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday (April 8).

The employee was last in the centre, located at Block 541 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, last Saturday (April 4), the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said in a statement on Wednesday.

The centre will be temporarily closed from Thursday to April 18, which covers the 14-day incubation period from her last day in the centre.

All affected staff and children will be placed on a leave of absence (LOA) during the closure period. Contact tracing is being done.

Barring any new developments, the centre will reopen on April 20 to serve the limited group of parents who are working in essential services and are unable to extend their alternative care arrangements beyond the closure period.

ECDA said the centre will conduct a thorough cleaning and disinfection of the pre-school premises and is closely monitoring its staff and parents on the health of their children.

The agency reminded pre-schools to be vigilant in conducting health checks, and observe high standards of personal and environmental hygiene. This includes keeping centres clean, and washing hands frequently with soap - especially before eating or handling food, after toilet visits, or when hands are dirtied after coughing or sneezing.

In recent days, a number of pre-schools have had to close temporarily due to confirmed coronavirus cases.

On Monday, Little Gems Pre-school at 3 Ang Mo Kio Street 62 had to extend its closure after a second employee, a relief teacher, and a two-year-old girl tested positive for the coronavirus. The first teacher tested positive on Saturday.

The pre-school will be closed until April 17.

Separately, a teaching aide at a PAP Community Foundation (PCF) Sparkletots centre at Block 414 Hougang Avenue 10 tested positive on Sunday. The centre will be closed until April 15. PCF Sparkletots said that the teacher is not a member of its staff.

The Fengshan PCF Sparkletots centre at Block 126 Bedok North Street 2 that had 27 confirmed coronavirus cases linked to the cluster reopened on Wednesday.