Education minister Ong Ye Kung has reassured school-going children and their parents that "schools may actually be one of the safest places for our students" given that an infectious viral disease is currently spreading in Singapore.

Ong made these remarks in a Facebook post on Friday, Feb. 7, evening.

He wrote about how retaining a sense of normalcy is still the best policy, as the education ministry has implemented enhanced measures to curb the outbreak and to minimise the disruption to people's lives.

Some of the measures Ong listed included suspending inter-school activities and external activities until the end of the March school holidays, as well as putting in place social hygiene protocols, such as wiping down surfaces after use.

The full extent of the measures will be carried out immediately and have been listed on the Ministry of Education website.

Suspending school not viable

Ong also said some parents have suggested suspending school, but he regarded such a move as too being drastic as it will disrupt life for many families.

It was also not realistic to expect older children to stay home the whole time school is closed, he wrote.

VJC teacher feeling guilty

Ong also shared that he had spoken over the phone with the teacher who was infected with the novel coronavirus.

He told the 42-year-old female Singaporean teacher from Victoria Junior College that it was not her fault, after her infection resulted in her students and teacher colleagues having to take a Leave of Absence from school.

He wrote: "I spoke with the teacher on the phone earlier this evening. She felt bad about what happened, but I assured her it was not her fault."

"What we are doing are necessary precautions to keep our schools safe. I also wished her speedy recovery."

Ong gave his reassurance that VJC has disinfected the school thoroughly, and is having more tutorial classes instead of large lectures, and suspending CCAs for two weeks.

Ong also wrote: "Should there be wide community spread -- which we hope will not happen -- and given all the measures we have taken, schools may actually be one of the safest places for our students."

"We are calling on our 33,000 educators to make that happen."

Three new cases: Total 33 cases of infection

The VJC teacher was one of the three latest cases of infection in Singapore, as revealed by the Ministry of Health on Feb. 7.

There are currently 33 confirmed cases of infection in Singapore.

All of the three most recent cases have no travel history to mainland China.

The source of infection for these three cases has not been identified.