Covid-19 but schools still not closed: “When will Ong Ye Kung resign?”

Singapore — The Education Minister has made a bad judgement call by not closing schools in the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak, says opposition politician Lim Tean. He asks: “When will Ong Ye Kung resign?”

In a Facebook video and an accompanying statement last Friday (Feb 28), the chief of the People’s Voice (PV) party, said that “for weeks now, for a month now, almost every day People’s Voice has been demanding for the closures of our schools because we saw the danger of infection amongst our school children”.

Mr Lim cited a string of recent cases in Singapore educational institutions for his worries. He added that schools are a source of risk because teachers and students are in contact every day for hours at a time. This was why Hong Kong, Vietnam and Japan had closed schools.

Mr Lim made the post after a student from Raffles Institution (RI) was diagnosed with Covid-19. The school said that teachers and students who had been in close and sustained contact with the case had been put on leave of absence. The school was closed last Friday for thorough cleaning and reopened on Monday (March 2).

In the statement, Mr Lim said: “I have repeatedly called for schools to be closed and for the curriculum to be delivered online via e-learning classes and yet Ong Ye Kung has refused for weeks now! Now we have cases of students testing positive for Covid-19.”

“So will our Education Minister resign?” he asked. /TISG