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More than 250 preschool food poisoning cases reported

This article is more than 12 months old

The total number of staff and children affected by the preschool food poisoning case has gone up to 252 as of yesterday 6pm, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement.

The first cases were reported on March 21.

The number includes 16 people from the Plan Student Care Centre at Ubi Avenue 1 who displayed symptoms of food poisoning, the Ministry of Health said.

The number of staff and children across 13 PAP Community Foundation (PCF) Sparkletots preschool centres who have been affected stood at 241 as of Friday, according to an update by PCF.

Earlier, the PCF had reported 222 cases across 12 centres.

Of the 241 cases, 229 are children and 12 staff members.

Of the 32 children who were hospitalised, 31 have been discharged, MOH said.

The one child who remained hospitalised was understood to be in a stable condition. None of the staff have been hospitalised.

The services of the caterer, Kate's Catering, have been terminated, PCF said.

Kate's Catering had served 16 Sparkletots centres, with the 13 affected centres located in the Sengkang Central, Punggol, Paya Lebar and Toa Payoh Central areas.

Mr Victor Bay, chief executive officer of PCF, said in a statement on Friday that he had visited the affected children in hospital, along with others from the senior management, teachers and principals.

With more than 200 cases, this is believed to be Singapore's largest mass food poisoning incident involving children of preschool age.

MEDICAL & HEALTH