SINGAPORE: A pre-school in Bukit Merah has been ordered to close for two weeks after one of its teachers contracted COVID-19, said the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) on Sunday (Mar 15).



MY World Preschool, located at 52 Lengkok Bahru, will be closed from Mar 16 to Mar 27, said the agency, which oversees childcare centres and pre-schools in Singapore.



The teacher was last in the pre-school on Friday and tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday morning.



The closure period covers the 14-day incubation period since the teacher was in the pre-school, ECDA said, adding that contact tracing is ongoing.

All children, teachers and staff members will be given a leave of absence during the closure period.





The teacher is Case 221, one of 14 new cases announced by the Ministry of Health on Sunday.

The 28-year-old Filipino national holds a Singapore work pass and has no recent travel history to countries and regions affected by the coronavirus.

She is linked to an earlier case – Case 204, a 32-year-old American who is a Singapore work pass holder and who had been in Japan from Feb 29 to Mar 8.

"MY World Preschool will conduct a thorough cleaning and disinfection of the preschool premises, and is closely monitoring its staff and parents on the health of their children," said ECDA.

This is in addition to earlier precautionary measures that were implemented according to the Government's guidelines, such as restricting visitors, suspending communal activities and excursions and stepped up temperature screening for children and staff.

The pre-school's staff and students are advised to stay home during the closure period, and to avoid going to crowded places or attending social gatherings, ECDA said.



Singapore has reported 226 cases of COVID-19, including 14 new cases on Sunday – its largest single-day increase to date.

On Sunday, Singapore announced it will expand its travel restrictions further, with people entering the country with recent travel history to ASEAN countries, Japan, Switzerland or the United Kingdom to be issued with a 14-day stay-home notice.

The restriction applies to all travellers except for Singaporeans and Malaysians using sea and land crossings with Malaysia, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said.

Singapore has already blocked entry or transit for visitors with travel history to Italy, France, Spain and Germany within the last 14 days, in addition to a ban on travellers who have recently visited mainland China, Iran, northern Italy or South Korea.



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