COVID-19 CASES DETECTED IN 102 SECONDARY SCHOOLS AS OF FEB 8 - MASIDI

8 Feb 2021

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KOTA KINABALU: Covid-19 cases have been detected in a total of 102 secondary schools out of 221 in Sabah from Jan 16 to Feb 8, said Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Masidi Manjun.

He said, the Sabah State Health Department will conduct a thorough observation and evaluation for each case reported before deciding to close the schools.

"If there is evidence that the virus is causing clusters in schools, then the health officer in the respective district will stop all school activities for 10 days to break the Covid-19 transmission chain," he said during a press conference here, today.

He was asked about the criteria set by the Ministry of Health (MoH) on whether schools should close down should Covid-19 cases are detected in the compound.

According to Masidi, the closure of schools would allow close contact screening to be more effective.

"If cases can be detected early before the emergence of a cluster, the close contacts can be screened and isolated in the quarantine centre.

"School activities can be continued with the practice of strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) and monitoring of symptoms among students and teachers," he said.