7 centres to close for 10 days as HFMD cases spike
ON MONDAY alone, 527 pre-school children caught the hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).
They are among the more than 50,000 children under the age of six who are studying at 744 childcare centres across Singapore, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS).
With the number of HFMD cases continuing to rise rapidly, two preschools and five childcare centres on Wednesday were preparing to temporarily shut down for 10 days.
Staff spent the day informing parents about the impending move so that they could make alternative plans for their kids.
Another 13 centres were also preparing to follow suit - but on a voluntary basis.
Almost 1,250 people caught the disease last week, a 25 per cent jump over a week ago.
Of these, 16 were children who had to be hospitalised - most of them because they were not eating well.
The new cases brought the total number of confirmed cases since the beginning of this year to 7,560.
With no let-up in the new cases and the re-emergence of the potentially deadly EV71 strain, the spokesman said the ministry was lowering its threshold for closing schools.
This means that when there is a transmission period of more than 15 days at a centre, it will be advised to close voluntarily.
But if there is a sustained transmission period of more than 15 days and more than 13 reported cases within the same centre, it will be ordered by health authorities to shut.
The change is a bid to prevent the virus, which is transmitted through saliva, blister fluid and faeces among other things, from gaining more ground.
To help parents out, NTUC Childcare told The Straits Times that it will provide financial support, especially for low-income families, on a case-by-case basis.
NTUC Childcare has three centres affected by the compulsory and voluntary closure.
