KUCHING: The Ministry of Education (MoE) and Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) should look into postponing the reopening of schools in Kuching for another two weeks in view of the increasing Covid-19 cases and discovery of a new cluster in Kuching, said Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii.
He pointed out that the recent rise in cases and numerous active clusters around Kuching identified thus far should give extra reasons for the necessary precautions to be taken in order to prevent the possibility of another cluster breaking out, especially among students and teachers.
“The most concerning factor is the possibility of hidden clusters that are yet to be discovered,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday.
He noted that a new cluster known as the Satok Market Cluster was discovered recently after active testing among 229 traders there. He said that they were all asymptomatic and likely would not have been known if the testing had not been conducted.
“Even the biggest cluster in Kuching right now — the Sentosa Cluster — was only discovered when the index case voluntarily took the initiative to get tested before travelling to Penang,” he said, adding that the majority of cases discovered in this cluster were also asymptomatic.
“Imagine if the first index case did not voluntarily get tested; this cluster may have continued to remain hidden and if delayed even further, we may have even more grave consequences or outcome from the disease,” said Dr Yii.
“Today (Wednesday) itself, I was informed that there is a case detected in a school student after aggressive testing was done,” he said.
He pointed out that the current strategy of aggressive testing was the right move, explaining that even though the figures might be frightening at the beginning, it was important to determine the actual numbers, detect them early, and have proper early intervention for those affected in order to curb the spread of the disease.
He pointed out that State Health director Dr Chin Zin Hing on Tuesday had even confirmed that the source of Covid-19 infection for the latest spike in cases had not yet been identified.
“With the majority of cases being asymptomatic, there is huge need to be cautious, especially when they involve our children and teachers,” said Dr Yii.
He said that SDMC should continue to do aggressive testing to isolate all the different active clusters and allow another two weeks for the incubation period to pass, only then review the decision on reopening of schools.
“While I fully understand that the opening of schools is important so that students, especially those without proper internet or gadgets, do not get further left behind and also freeing parents to go back to work, it has to be done properly so that we can avoid any spread of the virus – causing a second wave just like South Korea, France, and some other countries when there was a premature opening of schools.
“We do not want to risk another new cluster among our schools and regret it when it is too late,” he stressed, hoping that MoE would take in all necessary feedback especially from the Ministry of Health and also parent-teacher associations or schools boards.
