Mandatory Closure of Childcare Centres Due to Outbreak of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked the Acting Minister for Social and Family Development (a) for the past two years, how many childcare centres have had to be mandatorily closed due to an outbreak of the Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) and how many children were enrolled in each of these affected childcare centres; (b) whether the Ministry collects data on the types of alternative childcare arrangements that parents have had to make when their children were unable to go to childcare centres either due to an outbreak of HFMD or the closure of such centres; and (c) what are the other types of communicable disease outbreaks which may require a childcare centre or kindergarten to be mandatorily closed.

All pre-schools are required to follow preventive and response measures on infectious disease according to MOH's Infection Control Guidelines for Schools and Child Care Centres10. Should an outbreak occur, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) works with MOH to determine if preschools have to be closed to control further spread of the disease. Preschools have previously been closed due to HFMD and SARS.

We currently have about 1,500 preschools. A typical preschool would have about one to two hundred children. Over the past two years, an average of two preschools per month has been closed due to HFMD. Each closure is for a minimum period of 10 days to break the transmission of the disease and to protect other children from being infected.

Preschools which are required to close are advised to work with parents to plan for alternative care arrangements. The arrangements are varied. Some parents may use their childcare leave to take care of their child, while others seek support from family members, friends or neighbours.

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