PUTRAJAYA DIS.6: The Ministry of Health (MOH) has warned that the resurgence of education clusters is not something that can be taken lightly as individuals from various households will be in the same space and time and an individual’s non -compliance with existing standard operating procedures (SOPs) will trigger clusters that we do not want.
Director General of Health, Tan Sri Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah said the data found that of the 16 new clusters involving educational institutions, a total of 12 clusters occurred in secondary schools and higher education institutions.
Dr. Noor Hisham said, as most of the adolescent and adult populations have been fully vaccinated, MOH would like to reiterate that vaccination does not mean that compliance with the SOP is no longer required.
“Proper wearing of face masks and hand hygiene are still important to prevent COVID-19 infection. Avoid crowded places because physical imprisonment also needs to be taken care of. Strengthen of self-health actions by practicing TRISS (Test, Report, Isolate, Inform and Seek) to educate ourselves to be responsible individuals and protect those around us from the risk of infection,” Dr. Noor Hisham said in a statement here today.
Dr. Noor Hisham added, Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) also has SOPs that have been set and must be complied with by teachers, staff, students/pupils, support staff, and others.
According to Dr. Noor Hisham, adherence to the SOP by each of these individuals is very important to ensure that COVID-19 infection does not occur and the spread of infection in schools as well as further can lead to occurrence in families and communities.
“This compliance is not only important during study time in the classroom and while in school, but also during breaks, time for physical activities such as sports, time to enter and return from school, in school vans and buses, and during daily activities and in the community.
“Infection and transmission can occur anywhere, so all parties need to be sensitive and not negligent in complying with the set SOPs,” Dr. Noor Hisham reiterated.
Dr. Noor Hisham added, as of 4th December 2021of the 48th Epidemiology Week (ME), a total of 2,654,474 cumulative cases of COVID-19 have been reported with 62,670 active cases and 30,574 cumulative cases of death.
Although Malaysia’s Rt/Ro value increased slightly last week Dr. Noor Hisham said, all key indicators of COVID-19 infection are now declining compared to the 47th ME. In terms of the existence of new clusters, all cluster categories showed a declining trend except for education clusters.
On another development, Malaysia has recorded 4,262 new COVID-19 cases today bringing the cumulative total to 2,663,034 with 5,894 cured cases adding the cumulative total to 2,572,053 or 96.6 per cent.
According to the Director General, from the new vases only 78 cases or 1.8 per cent were categories 3, 4 and 5 and another 4,184 cases or 98.2 per cent were from categories 1 and 2.
He said, 463 cases requiring treatment in the Intensive Care Units (ICU) while 259 cases requiring respiratory assistance and five new clusters have been formed with 234 active clusters.
Regarding clusters, Dr. Noor Hisham said, as of December 4, 2021 a cumulative of 5,969 clusters have been reported and only 227 clusters are still active (a decrease of 3.0 percent compared to the 47th ME).
In addition he said, a total of 48 clusters were declared expired in the 47th ME, making a decrease of 14.3 per cent compared to the 47th ME. A total of 41 clusters were reported at the 48th ME consisting of 21 (51.2 per cent) workplace clusters; 16 (39.1 per cent) education centre clusters; two (4.9 per cent) clusters of religious activity; one (2.4 per cent) community cluster and one (2.4 per cent) cluster of high risk groups. –Malaysia World News
