Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Singapore to Shut Schools as COVID-19 Cases Rise


Sun 16 May 2021 | 08:30 PM
Omnia Ahmed

Singapore will shut most schools from Wednesday as the city-state reported the highest number of local COVID-19 infections in months, including several that were unlinked, authorities said on Sunday.

Authorities pointed out that all primary, secondary and junior colleges will shift to full home-based learning from Wednesday until the end of the school term on May 28.

“Some of these (virus) mutations are much more virulent, and they seem to attack the younger children,” Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said.

“The sharp rise in the number of community cases today requires us to significantly reduce our movements and interactions in the coming days,” Chan added.

Meantime, Singapore confirmed 38 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the highest daily number since mid-September, of which 18 are currently unlinked.

It has recorded more than 61,000 virus cases, with the bulk linked to outbreaks last year in foreign worker dormitories, and 31 deaths.

Johns Hopkins University announced on Sunday that more than 162.5 million people were infected with Coronavirus worldwide, including 3 million and 370 thousand deaths.