Some NUS students given swab test over Covid concerns

Residents at a hostel block in the National University of Singapore (NUS) were given Covid-19 swab tests yesterday after traces of the coronavirus were detected in its wastewater.

In a circular sent to staff and students on Monday night and seen by The New Paper, Dr Peck Thian Guan, senior director at the university's safety, health and environment office, said that low levels of Covid-19 viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) were detected in the wastewater sample collected last Saturday from the bathrooms at the north tower of UTown Residence.

As required by the Ministry of Health, affected residents were given allocated slots between noon and 4pm yesterday to undergo a polymerase chain reaction swab test as a precautionary measure.

When TNP arrived at UTown Residence yesterday afternoon, the north tower had been cordoned off from the rest of the hostel.

About 15 people were queueing for their swab test in the foyer.

A third-year electrical engineering student, who wanted to be known only as Ms Xie, 22, said she received an e-mail from NUS on Monday night informing her that she was one of the affected residents.

She was given instructions to report between 2pm and 3pm to take a swab test.

"When I found out about what happened, I wasn't too worried about it," she told TNP in a text message.

"I just followed what the hostel told me to do. The instructions were clear and the university's response was quick too."

Ms Xie added that she will remain indoors for the next two to three days until her Covid-19 test result is confirmed as negative.

All affected students have been told to self-isolate and attend lessons online. They are allowed to leave their rooms for essential activities such as using the bathroom, doing laundry and accepting food orders.

However, they are not allowed to have visitors or go out to buy food.

An NUS student, who does not reside in the affected block, was also told to take a swab test.

The student, who declined to be named, said: "I visited a friend at UTown Residences over the weekend, so even though I don't live there, I was asked to take the test just in case."

Other students contacted by TNP said most of the residents in the block are post-graduate or international students. A number of staff members also live in the hostel.

A first-year computer science student, who wanted to be known only as Mr P. Tan, 22, said: "I live in Residential College 4, which is relatively nearby. So when I heard about this, I was a little concerned. It could mean that someone in the area has the virus."

Mr Luke Ligo, 22, a first-year life sciences student who lives in Tembusu College just a block away from UTown Residence, said: "If there really is a Covid-19 case, I am hoping it is just isolated in that hostel.

"Anyway, many of us are taking online lessons so we don't meet face to face often."

Dr Peck said in the circular that NUS implemented a wastewater surveillance programme for all hostels in December last year, to detect Covid-19 positive cases in "a safe, effective and non-intrusive way".

"Please remain calm, comply with the precautionary measures, and do not spread unverified information," he added.

"We will update on the outcome of the swab test exercise in due course."

Responding to queries, a spokesman for the National Environment Agency said: "We collaborated with NUS and provided inputs on the wastewater testing protocol and interpretation of the wastewater sample results.

"We will continue to support the university in the interpretation of the results as tests are conducted on the samples."

The spokesman added that wastewater testing facilitates a more targeted swabbing strategy that contributes to the mitigation of further Covid-19 transmission.

"The passive, wide-area surveillance capability of wastewater sampling therefore enables us to unobtrusively monitor for Covid-19, in conjunction with community clinical tests," he said.