One-Day Suspension of Classes and Activities at Raffles Institution and MOE Language Centre (Bishan)

1. As announced by the Ministry of Health (MOH) today, one of the new cases confirmed is a Year 1 student from Raffles Institution (RI) who has tested positive for COVID-19. He is linked to another confirmed case in his family. He became unwell on Friday, 21 February, and has been on medical leave and not been in school since.

2. In light of this, RI will be stepping up precautionary measures to protect its students and staff and prevent the spread of COVID-19. These measures include:

1. Suspension of school for Year 1 to 6 tomorrow, Friday, 28 February, to conduct a thorough cleaning and disinfecting of the school premise. School will resume on Monday, 2 March 2020
2. Issuance of a 14-day Leave of Absence (LOA) for students, teachers and staff who had recently come into contact with the student. Contact tracing is on-going
3. Suspension of CCAs for Year 1 to 6 in RI for two weeks

3. These measures will provide another layer of protection for RI, in addition to the earlier precautionary measures that MOE had announced for the entire school system. These earlier whole-system measures will limit exposure to the school community in the event that a school staff or student gets infected. They include:

1. Suspension of large group and communal activities such as assemblies, camps and mass celebrations
2. Staggering of recess times in schools
3. Suspension of all external school activities, inter-school activities and Learning Journeys until the end of the March school holidays

Measures for MOE Language Centre (Bishan)

4. As the student had attended a language class on Thursday, 20 February, at MOE Language Centre (Bishan), classes will also be suspended for one day, on Friday, 28 February, to conduct a thorough cleaning and disinfecting of the school premise. Students, teachers and staff of the Language Centre who were in close contact with the student will be issued a 14-day LOA.

5. MOE will continue to monitor the situation closely, and work with students, parents and the community of the two institutions. We also urge all students and staff to continue practising good personal hygiene. This includes washing their hands frequently with soap, wearing a surgical mask if they have a cough or runny nose to prevent infecting others, and seeing a doctor if they are sick and returning to school only when fully recovered.