Students will become Covid spreaders: Yong
Students will become Covid-19 spreaders after the opening of the new semester, causing the disease to spread further, expert virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan said on Wednesday.
He said even though infected students develop mild symptoms, they can spread the virus to other students, as well as family members and the elderly.
“Similar to other respiratory diseases such as flu, Covid-19 will spread quickly during the opening of the new semester or rainy season, causing more students to be infected and spread the virus,” he predicted.
The mortality rate among healthy students aged 3 or above is 1 in 10,000 and most fatalities have underlying diseases, Yong said, adding that children aged 2 or below are vulnerable to Covid-19.
He pointed out that Covid prevention measures are important to contain the spread of the virus in schools, such as washing one’s hands regularly, avoiding eating with others, wearing face masks and maintaining a social distance.
Yong said Singapore had placed priority on education as no schools were closed, while students were allowed to attend classes after recovering from Covid-19. Everyone in Singapore strictly adheres to Covid prevention measures, he added.
“Everyone must accept the truth and promote education to move on,” Yong advised.
He asked related agencies to focus on improving prevention measures in schools rather than closing them.
