Covid-19: Pupils, teachers from 14 classes in SJK (C) Pin Hwa 1, Shah Alam under quarantine

PETALING JAYA: Pupils and teachers from 14 classes at a Chinese school have been placed under quarantine after three teachers tested positive for Covid-19.

The pupils from the classes and their teachers at SJK (C) Pin Hwa 1, Shah Alam, have been ordered by the Petaling district health office to undergo quarantine from April 16 onwards.

The school’s natural disasters committee said the classes involved pupils and teacher from Year One to Year Six.

“The teachers tested positive after doing a swab test on April 13, ” the school said in a letter dated April 15.

SJK (C) Pin Hwa 1 is the latest school to join the growing list of schools where Covid-19 cases have been detected among staff and students.

On Wednesday (April 14), parents from SMK Kota Kemuning were informed that health officers had issued the pink quarantine bands to 158 students and four teachers from the school.

According to an Education Ministry statement on Oct 9,2020, any school with even one positive case detected must close immediately for sanitisation, even if they have yet to receive the risk analysis report from the Health Ministry.

On March 21, Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said any closure of schools, whether fully or partly, would be done on the advice of the district health office.

“Schools, where positive Covid-19 cases have been detected, will only be closed after a risk analysis and assessment, ” Bernama quoted him as saying after the Jelajah Malaysia Prihatin programme with parent-teacher associations in Perlis.

Radzi said the district health office would be able to gauge the situation better after carrying out an in-depth analysis on the risk of Covid-19 transmission in the area.

“In this context, if the district health office decides that a certain class must be closed, then we will close that class.

“Likewise, should they say a certain floor needs to be closed, then we will close that floor, ” he said.

Radzi said should the district health office recommend the entire school be closed, only then would the Education Ministry order the closure.