Students in COVID-19 quarantine facilities are allowed to have caregivers: MOH
File photo of secondary school students in Singapore.
SINGAPORE: Students who are identified as close contacts of COVID-19 cases and are required to be isolated in a government quarantine facility are allowed to be accompanied by caregivers, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.
These students are each quarantined in a designated room, and one caregiver is allowed to accompany the student for the duration of their quarantine, said the ministry on Sunday (May 23).
MOH was responding to queries from CNA amid an increasing number of children requiring quarantine.
Some children have had to be quarantined because a schoolmate, family member or household contact tested positive for COVID-19.
Students whose household members are close contacts of COVID-19 cases are allowed to serve their quarantine order at home together, said MOH.
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“Caregivers have to agree and adhere to several requirements,” MOH said.
These include remaining contactable throughout the quarantine period; monitoring both the affected person’s health and their own; reporting symptoms immediately; and observing good personal hygiene.
“It is currently not a requirement for a caregiver to be vaccinated,” the ministry added.
Those who would like to be accompanied by a caregiver during their quarantine can put in a request and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
“(The approval is given) depending on the quarantined person’s extenuating circumstances, such as whether he or she is an elderly (person), a minor (below the age of 20) or has a medical condition, and hence unable to look after him/herself”, MOH said.
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A number of students from several schools have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent weeks, including those at Anglo-Chinese School (Junior), St Stephen's School and St Andrew's Junior School.
Several children have also been linked to a cluster of infections at tuition centre Learning Point, where a tutor first tested positive on May 12. As of Saturday, 28 cases have been linked to that cluster.
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