FAILURE to follow Covid-19 standard operating procedure (SOP) is the main reason for the 107 education clusters accounting for 4,633 infections since the beginning of the year, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.

These cases were reported during the January 1 to 25 period, with the bulk of clusters and infections emerging after school session began on January 9 and 10.

“These clusters stemmed from failure to adhere to the SOP while in school and outside of formal school hours, especially when students were in their dormitories,” Noor Hisham said in a statement this evening.

Other reasons for the spike in cases among schoolchildren include students who were positive and attended class and only discovered their Covid-19 statues later, and students under quarantine in boarding schools who failed to follow quarantine procedures.

The Health Ministry’s investigations into the outbreaks in schools also found a lack of regular cleaning and disinfecting of common areas in schools and poor ventilation in some classrooms and dormitories.

The majority or 88.3% of the 4,633 infections in education clusters have been vaccinated and are also experiencing mild Covid-19 in categories 1 and 2.

Malaysia today reported 4,744 new infections, the highest since the beginning of the year. – January 26, 2022.