Given the recent rise in Covid-19 community cases, it’s to be expected that new clusters will pop up daily.
However, when a cluster emerges at a preschool it causes more concern, as it potentially involves many young children.
That’s particularly if it’s growing as fast as the one at My First Skool Chin Swee Road, which has reported 31 cases in 3 days.
11 cases were found there on Sunday (15 Aug) alone.
In their daily Covid-19 update on Sunday (15 Aug), the Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 50 community cases, with 3 imported.
Among the 50 community cases, 11 of them were added to the My First Skool Chin Swee cluster.
That’s the highest number of cases added to any active cluster on 15 Aug.
To put that into perspective, it’s important to note that the My First Skool Chin Swee cluster was announced as a new cluster on Thursday (12 Aug).
That’s after 5 new cases were linked to an existing case to form a cluster at the preschool.
That means the cluster grew to 31 cases in just 3 days.
All staff and preschoolers there were tested for Covid-19 after the cluster was declared, reported The Straits Times.
In comparison, another preschool cluster – at Superland Pre-School in Kreta Ayer Community Centre – was announced a day earlier on Wednesday (11 Aug).
It has grown to 15 cases as of 15 Aug – less than half of My First Skool Chin Swee’s.
It hasn’t escaped our attention that other places in the Chin Swee area have also reported Covid-19 cases.
On 6 Aug, MOH said 4 cases in 4 households were detected at Block 51 Chin Swee Road.
All residents, owners and staff of commercial units there went for mandatory swabbing.
On Friday (13 Aug), a cashier at the Sheng Siong supermarket in Block 52 Chin Swee Road tested positive for Covid-19. The outlet closed for cleaning.
On Saturday (14 Aug), MOH said 5 Covid-19 cases were detected among 2 households in Block 52.
Residents, owners and staff at Block 52 and Block 53 – which is connected – went for mandatory testing on Sunday (15 Aug).
Across the road, 10 cases among 7 households were found in Block 3 & 9 Jalan Kukoh, and mandatory testing is ongoing.
MOH has said there’s likely Covid-19 transmission at these blocks.
My First Skool is located at Block 54 Chin Swee Road.
However, it’s uncertain whether the cluster is linked to the cases in nearby Block 51, 52, Sheng Siong and Jalan Kukoh.
Source
MOH did report something positive on 15 Aug, though – no new clusters for the day.
9 clusters have also been closed, bringing the number of active clusters down to 102.
The clusters at Bishan and Sengkang bus interchanges added 4 new cases, a drop from the day before.
Worryingly, 8 people are in critical condition in the intensive care unit, with 33 seniors above 60 “very ill”.
While the very emergence of a preschool cluster is worrying, so is how fast it’s growing.
Let’s hope fewer new cases are linked to My First Skool Chin Swee in the coming days.
We also pray that the Chin Swee Road area doesn’t become another Bukit Merah, which racked up a number of clusters and dozens of infections within weeks.
MS News wishes all those infected a speedy recovery.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured images adapted from Google Maps.
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