SINGAPORE - Teachers and school staff who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 will undergo twice-weekly antigen rapid tests (ARTs) from Oct 1, as part of the vaccinate or regular test regime for public sector employees.
This will also apply to non-government employees who have regular contact with students aged 12 and below, including those working in tuition and enrichment centres, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said in a Facebook post on Friday (Aug 13).
[embed]https://www.facebook.com/ChanChunSing.SG/posts/4550576898327591[/embed]
At the same time, cleaners in tuition and enrichment centres that cater to students aged 12 and below will also be required to undergo regular testing under the Fast and Easy Testing (FET) regime from Sept 3.
Staff in schools working in higher-risk settings, such as cleaners and physical education teachers, are required to undergo testing every two weeks as part of the FET regime.
These are among measures taken by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to adopt a more sustainable approach towards school cases as Singapore moves towards living with an endemic Covid-19.
In his post, Mr Chan noted that about 216 students out of Singapore's 600,000 student population were infected by the Covid-19 virus from May to July. About half of these - 103 - were primary school students.
More than half of the cases were isolated through leave of absence (LOA) or quarantine order (QO) before they tested positive, which meant that no contact tracing was required in schools as they did not pose any risk to their schoolmates, the minister said.
Over those three months, more than 20,000 students across 50 schools were placed on home-based learning at different times and for varying time periods.
None of these students were Covid-19 positive, as all close contacts of confirmed cases had already been placed on LOA or QO, Mr Chan said.
Since early August, the ministry has moved towards a more targeted approach when dealing with Covid-19 infections, he noted.
"This means that where possible, we will place close contacts and students from the same classes or CCA groups under LOA or QO, instead of putting the entire level on HBL. The disruptions are further minimised this way."
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He said that the MOE wants to expand its options for less-invasive testing methods, to enable children and families to experience even less disruptions when Covid-19 infections are uncovered.
"Testing would allow us to be much more targeted in terms of who should stay away from school and for how long," he said.
For example, with more regular and faster testing using self-administered ARTs, students and staff who are tested negative can return to school earlier.
"As new scientific evidence emerges and we accumulate more experience, we will further calibrate the suite of measures and apply them based on the circumstances, to keep our schools and children safe," said Mr Chan.
"Where necessary, we will tighten measures, balancing the considerations for risk management with the impact of the disruptions."
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.