The fight against the Covid-19 outbreak is not a blame game, Member of Parliament (MP) for Fengshan Cheryl Chan said in a Facebook post on Wednesday, Mar. 25.

Not a time to point fingers

Ever since the first Covid-19 case was reported at PAP Community Foundation (PCF) Sparkletots @ Fengshan Blk 126, there had been "many comments on the teacher, PCF, MOE (Ministry of Education) etc", said Chan.

The preschool is located at 126 Bedok North Street 2.

Chan clarified that the first teacher (Case 516) who tested positive for Covid-19 "did not travel overseas nor have any family members who contracted it".

Neither did the teacher display any symptoms when she was in school, Chan added.

In a subsequent update on Thursday, Mar. 26, Chan said the preschool's principal and all staff who tested positive for Covid-19 have been quarantined at "dedicated facilities" since Mar. 24.

Also, teachers who attended a course with the principal have been placed under home quarantine, she said.

19 cases reported at Fengshan PCF Sparkletots centre cluster

Out of the 73 new cases reported on Wednesday, Mar. 25, 16 are linked to the PCF Sparkletots @ Fengshan.

And on Thursday, Mar. 26, another teacher was confirmed to have tested positive for Covid-19

This brings the total number of cases linked to the new cluster to 19.

Currently, 15 of the cases at the centre are preschool staff (including its principal), while four are family members of an infected staff (Case 601).

Chan also clarified in her post that Case 601 is not the first teacher who tested positive on Mar. 23.

https://mothership.sg/2020/03/fengshan-preschool-new-case/?fbclid=IwAR3_EzdqSv9L9K7ADfJdX9hM37KNlpc9LTf2fQeaZy5ehYhVDx6qzuCPSGo

Closing of PCF centres the right thing to do

Closing the centre to prevent to prevent any further spread in the community is the "right thing to do in the interest of the children and the community", Chan said.

She also stressed that all PCF childcare centres take "necessary precautionary measures" in terms of safety and hygiene especially when dealing with young children.

No teacher would knowingly do anything that puts the children at risk

Chan defended the centre's teachers, adding that none of them would knowingly do things that put the children at risk:

"The parents of the centre should know the teachers well by now and I trust they have seen how the teachers have been caring and nurturing their young ones."

She reiterated that the cluster of infection happened through no fault of the teacher (Case 516), since she was also infected.

She further clarified that this teacher contracted the virus unknowingly.

Chan then encouraged parents to monitor their children's health in the coming days, adding that staff will be calling twice daily to check in on the children too.

She ended her post by calling on people to continue the fight against Covid-19:

"We need all hands on deck. Those who are on Stay-Home Notice and Quarantine Order, please spare a thought for others, stay in and be responsible."

Top image via Cheryl Chan's Facebook