SINGAPORE - Pre-school and primary school pupils living in the same household as a person who has returned to Singapore from any country from Wednesday 11.59pm (March 25) will be placed on 14-day leave of absence (LOA).

The Ministry of Education and Ministry of Social and Family Development announced this additional precautionary measures for pupils on Tuesday following the recent spike in imported cases in Singapore.

Pupils living in the same household as a person who had returned to Singapore from Britain, the United States or Asean countries on or after March 14 will also be placed on LOA.

The pupil's LOA will start from the day the person in the household returned here.

The ministries said these measures will be implemented to protect younger school-going children.

As of Tuesday, about three in five of the 558 coronavirus patients here are imported. A week ago, this was lower at nearly two in five of all patients.

The new measures are on top of the 14-day LOA issued to students and staff of schools, pre-schools and student care centres if they returned from overseas on or after March 14.

To accommodate these exceptional circumstances, MOE and MSF encouraged employers to provide flexible work arrangements for their employees.

The ministries said they will monitor the situation closely and work with schools, pre-schools, student care centres, parents and the community to "ensure that our schools, pre-schools and student care centres remain safe".

They also urged all other students and staff who are living with people on LOAs or stay-home notices to monitor their health, see a doctor if they are sick and return to school only when they have fully recovered.