HEALTH Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today sounded the alarm on the rising number of Covid-19 clusters linked to educational institutions.

Of the 16 education clusters reported in the past week, 12 were detected in secondary schools and tertiary education institutes.

“Education clusters being on the rise again is not something that can be taken lightly as individuals from several households are likely to congregate at the same space and at the same time, and a lack of compliance to SOP (standard operating procedure) can pave the way for a new cluster,” he said in a statement.

Noor Hisham said although a majority of the adolescents and adult population had completed their vaccination, that did not mean that compliance to SOP was no longer necessary.

He advised the public to continue wearing masks correctly, maintain good hand hygiene and physically distance themselves.

He also called for the adoption of the Test, Report, Isolate, Inform, and Seek strategy.

“The Education Ministry has also come up with SOP for teachers, staff, students, support staff and others,” he said.

He said SOP must be complied with at all times in the learning institutions, including during lessons in class, recess and during sports.

He added that students must also adhere to SOP while traveling to and from school and during their day-to-day activities.

He reminded the public not to be complacent as Covid-19 infection could occur anywhere. – December 6, 2021.