- Singapore extended the closure of its schools as part
of efforts to battle the spread of a deadly respiratory disease, the education
ministry said, as two more new cases were reported.
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- Classes had been due to reopen on Monday but will now
open in phases, Education Minister Teo Chee Hean said.
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- Junior colleges and centralised institutes will reopen
on April 9, secondary schools on April 14 and primary schools on April
16.
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- The ministry shut down all pre-university schools on
March 27 in an extraordinary measure to contain the spread of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), effectively putting 600,000 students on forced
vacation.
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- "I recognise that parents still have concerns and
anxiety," Teo told a news conference.
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- "We will help these parents understand more about
SARS and what they can do about it so that their children can return to
school knowing that there are appropriate precautions to safeguard their
children," he said.
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- Late Saturday, the health ministry said two more new
cases were reported, raising the total in Singapore to 103, with six deaths.
Only 25 remain in hospital, 14 of them serious, while the rest have recovered.
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- One of the new cases is a midwife at the KK Children's
Hospital, who contracted the illness from a nurse at the Tan Tock Seng
Hospital, which is dedicated to SARS patients. The nurse had visited a
ward at KK hospital while she had a fever.
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- Authorities are tracking down the estimated 500 people
the midwife had come in contact with.
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- Four passengers arriving from SARS-affected areas were
checked by nurses at Changi Airport Saturday but none was referred to the
hospital.
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- Education Minister Teo assured parents that all the "necessary
precautions" will be put in place once the schools reopen.
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- "On the first day when school reopens, every student
will be taught what they can do to safeguard themselves and their friends,"
he said.
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- Students will be asked through a declaration form if
they had travelled to the areas listed by the World Health Organisation
(WHO) as high-risk places -- China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan and Toronto.
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- Those who travelled to these areas will be required to
stay away from school for 10-days from the date of their return to Singapore.
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- Those who travelled to other countries will have their
temperatures taken daily for 10 days to make sure they do not have fever,
the initial symptom of SARS.
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- Parents are also advised to keep their children who are
unwell at home. Schools will screen all pupils daily and those who are
found unwell will be sent home and asked to see a doctor.
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- Other school staff such as canteen operators, cleaners
and school bus drivers will be asked if they had travelled to high-risk
SARS areas.
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- Notices will be put up in school premises barring visitors
who are unwell or those who have visited high-risk SARS areas.
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- An educational module about the disease, for which there
is no known treatment yet, will be made available to pupils, who will also
be taught simple measures like washing their hands regularly.
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- "The above measures are meant to instill confidence
among parents that adequate precautions have been take to safeguard the
well-being of their children while they are in school," the ministry
said.
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- Minister of State for Education Ng Eng Hen said it was
still "too early to predict victory" over SARS and urged Singaporeans
to "prepare for the long haul."
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