KJ explains spike in Covid-19 school clusters

 

Khairy Jamaluddin said the total death toll for those below 18 years now stood at 144, 31 of whom were children aged five to 11.

PETALING JAYA: Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin has identified several factors to explain the rise in Covid-19 clusters in schools.

He said the main factor was non-compliance with SOPs during and outside school hours, particularly in boarding schools.

“Students and staff were not wearing masks in school, physical distancing is not practised during religious activities in the mosque, and students do not inform supervisors when they are symptomatic,” he said at a press conference today.

He added that teachers who experienced Covid-19 symptoms still showed up in class, increasing the rate of infection.

Khairy pointed out that some of these schools had poor ventilation and areas that students often gathered were not disinfected regularly.

“A total of 579,624 Covid-19 cases between Jan 25, 2020 and Jan 19, 2021 comprised individuals below 18 years, and of those cases, 269,773 were children between five and 11,” he said.

The total death toll of individuals below 18 years was 144, 31 of whom were children between five and 11.

“Lately, there has been a rise in Covid-19 infections among children and the Omicron variant spreads faster and has the potential to infect both children and adults,” he said.

Khairy added hostels will not be closed despite Covid-19 cases reported at these premises because 90% of children aged 12 to 17 have been vaccinated.

He said those with mild symptoms will remain isolated in hostels or at home as the ministry has no intention to carry out a “blanket ban”.

On recent reports of syndicates selling fake digital vaccination certificates, Khairy said it involved vaccination centres run by private health operators who purchased their own vaccines.

“An ongoing probe shows that individuals bought the vaccines but were not jabbed.

My ministry is looking at tightening SOPs and further spot checks will be carried out at these premises to keep them on guard,” he added.

On claims in social media of deaths linked to Covid-19 booster jabs, Khairy said his ministry would look into the matter.

He also urged families to have a post mortem done to confirm the cause of death if an adverse event occurs following vaccination.

Meanwhile, Khairy said 90% of imported cases are those of the Omicron variant and it is a “matter of time before Omicron overtakes other variants” in Malaysia.

“We may see a rise in Covid-19 cases in February and March,” he added. - FMT