As the number of Covid-19 community cases has increased recently, what’s worrying is that many are currently unlinked.
On Saturday (8 May), 7 community cases were reported. Among them, 5 were unlinked.
Worse still, Covid-19 has struck in our schools again, with 1 of these unlinked cases a Victoria Junior College (VJC) student.
The school will now shift to full home-based learning (HBL) for 5 days.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Health (MOH), the 18-year-old female Singaporean last went to school on Wednesday (5 May).
However, she developed flu-like symptoms after school.
Upon getting a fever the next day, she didn’t go to school and saw a doctor instead, where she was tested for Covid-19.
Unfortunately, the test came back positive on Friday (7 May).
She was deemed as Case 62941, a case that is currently unlinked to any cluster.
In response, the Ministry of Education (MOE) issued a press release on Saturday (8 May).
Firstly, it said that VJC has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
The school will also step up precautionary measures to minimise any risk of infection.
Unfortunately, 95 students and 8 staff of VJC have been issued a Quarantine Order.
This is because they’ve been identified as close contacts of the student.
An additional 2,200 people will also be given swab tests for Covid-19 before 10 May.
They comprise other students, staff, vendors and visitors to the school.
The sweeping move is due to the infected student being an unlinked case, amid the recent spike in community cases, MOE said.
MOE also announced that the entire VJC would shift to full HBL for 5 days.
This will take effect from 10-14 May.
The move is another precaution as it will take time for all the Covid-19 test results to come out.
MOE said VJC students are already familiar with HBL, and teachers will continue to keep in regular contact with students and parents.
VJC urged for unity in a Facebook post on Saturday (8 May).
The school also encouraged students and staff to take care so they can return to school soon.
The VJC student is the 2nd unlinked community case in a Singapore school in more than 1 week, following the 15-year-old Edgefield Secondary School student who tested positive on 29 Apr.
Similarly to VJC, Edgefield Secondary also shifted to HBL and tested everybody at school.
Education Minister Lawrence Wong made reference to the Edgefield Secondary case in a Facebook post on Saturday (8 May).
He said he was relieved that 1,500 students, staff and external vendors at Edgefield Secondary tested negative.
Similar measures will be taken at VJC, where it’ll be hoped that similar good results will be achieved.
It’s undoubtedly scary for an unlinked case to suddenly appear in a school, as it reinforces the idea that it can happen to anybody, no matter how young.
As many have been put under quarantine, there’s no doubt that the authorities are taking this latest surge in cases very seriously.
Hopefully, just like in Edgefield Secondary, no more positive cases will emerge from VJC.
MS News wishes the infected student a speedy recovery.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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