Education minister Ong Ye Kung popped by Kheng Cheng School on Monday morning, June 8, to welcome lower primary students and greet parents who brought their children back.

His visit came a day after it was announced on June 7 that four students and one school staff tested positive for Covid-19.

All five are from different schools.

Ong said at a press conference on Sunday that the Ministry of Education (MOE) will consider closing individual schools if clusters of Covid-19 infection are found there.

Right strategy of detecting cases early

In his Monday post, Ong noted as a follow-up to the previous day's events that "there may be some anxiety" following the revelation that five different schools had registered Covid-19 cases.

However, Ong said these cases are detected early as a result of the right strategy and more cases showing up are to be expected.

He wrote in his post: "They were surfaced because of stepped-up surveillance testing for schools after the end of circuit breaker."

"As we continue with this strategy, we must expect more cases to surface. While the case count may cause concern, it means that the strategy is working. Because it is only through more rigorous testing, that we can detect cases early, and stub out the risk of transmission," he added.

He called this approach in schools, work and social life a "new normal".

Attendance high

Ong also said in his post that attendance of students was high at 95 to 98 percent, a check with his staff showed.

Ong wrote that he was even told by several parents that their children could not wait to go back to school.

He wrote: "Several told me that their kids were looking forward to coming to school again, after 9 weeks at home. Masks were an inconvenience, but so far most were able to manage."

He added: "I asked my staff what was the attendance rate across schools today. The WhatsApp updates came in fast and furious as the numbers were submitted - 98%, 95%, 97%..."

You can see his full post here: