Covid-19: Parents express concern over outbreak in PJ school, five classes temporarily halted

PETALING JAYA: Six pupils recently tested positive for Covid-19 at a primary school in Bandar Utama near here but the authorities have not yet moved to temporarily shut it down.

SJK(C) Puay Chai 2 Parent Teacher Association chairman Loh Tian Hong told the Malay Mail that the entire family of a pupil at the school as well as 11 teachers there are now under home quarantine.

"The first case was reported to the school on April 7, while the second was on April 9.

“On Sunday (April 11) night, two more cases were reported and both were from the same family, ” Loh was quoted as saying by the Malay Mail on Tuesday (April 13).

Loh also said the school's headmistress had applied to the Health Ministry to temporarily close the school but this was rejected as the government did not consider the cases as a Covid-19 cluster.

It was also reported that school headmistress Soh Swee Koon had confirmed that a circular informing parents about the outbreak had been sent out.

The infected students are said to be in Years Two, Four and Five, and only five classes have currently been shut down.

Loh also said some parents were in favour of the entire school being shut, but the rest do not share that view.

“To most parents’ understanding, this is a cluster. But the authorities said this cannot be considered as a cluster as the student who tested positive did not contract the virus from the school," he said.

He added that some parents suspect the school outbreak began with one of the students, but told the Malay Mail that the authorities have not shared any information about their investigations of the origin.

“We are still unsure of who the index case is for these six students who tested positive.

“So the safest thing to do is to ask everyone from the five classes, including the 11 teachers who taught the classes, to undergo home quarantine, ” he said.

Loh also said the 11 teachers had tested negative while students in three of the five classes were screened on Monday (April 12) and had yet to get their lab results.

He added that the district health department is arranging to screen the remaining two classes that were temporarily closed, though some of the parents have sent their children to be tested privately.