KOTA KINABALU, Jan 28 — The Sabah government today ordered all schools involved in COVID-19 clusters to be closed immediately to curb the spread of the pandemic, especially among students, said Sabah Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.
The Sabah COVID-19 spokesperson said the school closure would be for a period of two to three weeks subject to the confirmation of the Sabah Health Department.
“Learning sessions for all school students who will take major examinations can continue with strict adherence to the standard operating procedure (SOP) among students, as well as teachers and staff of the educational institution concerned.
“This (educational institution cluster) has caused concern and has become the agenda of the Sabah Cabinet meeting which is concerned with the report of COVID-19 infection trends in several schools in the state,” he said in a statement tonight.
He said from Jan 1 until today, there were 10 educational institution clusters detected in Sabah, with the latest being the Batu 24 Nabalu Cluster recorded today involving three districts, namely Kota Belud, Tuaran and Kota Kinabalu.
Masidi said the cluster’s index case was a 31-year-old local woman who was found positive on Jan 17 and screening on family contacts detected three students from Sekolah Kebangsaan Dalas, Kota Belud positive.
“Screening of close contacts detected three more positive cases comprising family members and classmates. To date, 22 cases have been detected involving this cluster. All positive cases have been isolated and given further treatment,” he said.
He said 358 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, bringing the cumulative total to 247,112 cases, while two deaths were registered today.
“Another 177 COVID-19 patients have recovered, raising the cumulative total (for recoveries) to 238,698, while 792 patients are still receiving treatment,” he said.
