525 students positive for Covid, 15 schools closed in Kedah

Fifteen schools in Kedah have been closed since Jan 18 when 525 students and 25 teachers were found to have contracted Covid-19.

State religious, education and human resource committee chairman Najmi Ahmad said 13 of these were day boarding schools while the other two were normal schools.

He said that due to the situation, the state government had asked the education department to continue monitoring and ensuring compliance with the SOPs to curb the spread of Covid-19 at educational institutions.

“We are also asking parents to take note of the situation and to cooperate with the relevant authorities in tackling the spread of the viral infection.

“However, the situation is still under control and the infected students have been placed at the low-risk Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centres including Dewan Wawasan, Jitra,” he told reporters today.

The Kedah health department earlier announced that 10 education clusters had been detected involving schools in a number of districts including Pendang, Kulim, Kubang Pasu, Yan and Kuala Muda.

The affected schools have been closed for a week, or depending on the risk evaluation in these areas.

Najmi also said that 162 of 30,400 primary and secondary school teachers had yet to receive a Covid-19 shot.

He said such teachers were not allowed to come face-to-face with students and were placed separately to ensure the safety of the students and other teachers.

“Some have given their own excuses or reasons for not being vaccinated. For now, we are persuading them to reconsider their decision as some things have cropped up such as the schools having to provide a separate place for them, hence hampering lessons for the students,” he added.