A TOTAL of 52 Covid-19 clusters have been traced in schools since they opened to students this year, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said.

According to Khairy, the vast majority of the index cases in these clusters were students.

“From the 52 education clusters that have been reported since the first week of 2022, investigations found that students were the index case in 44 of the clusters; teachers and lecturers were index cases for five clusters and education support staff were index cases for three more clusters,” Khairy said at a press conference in Parliament today.

Khairy said 30 of the 52 clusters were at secondary schools, while 27 of the 30 secondary schools were boarding schools.

Khairy said non-compliance to standard operating procedures (SOP) outside school hours was the main reason for the increase in clusters in education institutions.

“Not using face masks at hostels; the free movement of students; the close contact of students while in hostels; and no physical distancing during prayer time in surau were factors for the increase in clusters.

“At the same time, late detection of individuals with symptoms, students not informing wardens when they start developing symptoms, teachers with symptoms attending school causing students to get infected and students quarantined not adhering to rules, are other factors for rise in education clusters,” he said.

Khairy said almost all states except Perlis, Terengganu, Sarawak and Labuan have reported education clusters.

Khairy said the ministry has given emphasis to the education sector to screen students, teachers and staff for symptoms before entering school or institution areas.

Besides this, he urged students, teachers and staff to do the RTK-Antigen test in accordance with the Covid-19 testing strategy. He also said risk assessment will reduce the transmission of infections.

Khairy also urged parents to monitor the health status of their children and urged them not to send their children to school if they show any symptoms.

He said the health ministry will hold a discussion with the Education Ministry and Ministry of Higher Education in the near future to strengthen the control and prevention of Covid-19 infections in educational institutions. – January 20, 2022.