Number and Percentage of Childcare Centres and Kindergartens Affected by Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease Each Year

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Health what is the annual number and percentage of (i) childcare centres and (ii) kindergartens affected by hand, foot and mouth disease for each year in the past five years.

Mr Speaker, the Ministry of Health (MOH) monitors the hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) situation through a sentinel surveillance programme involving selected hospitals, polyclinics and general practitioner clinics.

HFMD is a mild and self-limiting illness and there were no reported severe HFMD cases since 2019. HFMD is common during childhood, and it is not unusual to have HFMD cases or clusters of two or more cases in preschools. Based on data from 2018 to 2022, the annual number of preschools with HFMD clusters ranged from 352 to 1,073 for childcare centres and 34 to 152 for kindergartens, accounting for about 23% to 66% of childcare centres and 11% to 37% of kindergartens.

The numbers of reported clusters in childcare centres and kindergartens had decreased in 2020 and 2021, likely influenced by COVID-19-related community safe management measures. Although the numbers of reported clusters had increased in 2022, it is too soon to determine whether this reflects a rising trend beyond that seen in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. Can I just confirm, one, that MOH is able to close preschools, I believe for up to 10 days, to be able to break the chain of infections of HFMD? And two, what support the Ministry will provide to parents during these closures who have no alternative childcare arrangements?

Sir, I thank Mr Louis Ng for the questions. Closure of preschools is only one of the strategies and one of the tools when an outbreak occurs of HFMD or other mild, self-limiting, low severity diseases which are common in the community. The key to controlling spread is through early detection, isolation, maintaining high standards of personal and environmental hygiene – washing hands, covering the mouth and nose, avoiding sharing food and drinks or personal items.

At MOH, we work closely with the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and the Ministry of Education to monitor outbreaks of infectious diseases in preschools. We provide public health advice, including on how to prevent infection and implement control measures. We will continue to work with ECDA and the relevant agencies on the issues of how to support the preschool sector, as well as the parents to deal with clusters and outbreaks of diseases such as HFMD.