Two more schools, including one where only the Year One to Year Three classes were previously closed, have been ordered to close completely following the spread of the hand, food and mouth disease (HFMD).
This brings the number of facilities which are currently closed due to HFMD to 20, including 13 nurseries, a childcare centre and four schools, including an international school, which have been closed for 10 days for a clean-up after the HFMD was detected at their premises.
Between January this year to yesterday, 65 facilities have been closed in stages due to HFMD.
Penang Education Department director Mohd Jamil Mohamed said today the two schools were ordered closed for 10 days to comply with the State Health Department instruction that a clean-up would be carried out at the affected schools to prevent the spread of the disease.
“According to the report I received, Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) Sam Sun was fully closed when three students were found to have contracted the disease while SJKC Phor Tay, where six classes from Year One to Year Three were closed from July 7, was totally closed from yesterday.
“The measure was taken after 11 cases were recorded in SJKC Phor Tay, while two schools were closed since Tuesday, namely SJKC Shih Chung (Cawangan) which had six HFMD cases and the Tenby International School. All the schools are in the North-East District,” he told Bernama in George Town.
Mohd Jamil said nine classes in SJKC Chong Cheng in Sungai Ara were also closed after eight pupils contracted HFMD and the State Health Department was monitoring the school.
He said pupils in the affected schools did not have to replace the school sessions they missed and the teachers could use their discretion to complete the syllabus this year.
Meanwhile, Penang Health director Dr Wan Mansor Hamzah said another school, SJKC Chung San, was being inspected and had been placed under alert.
“To date, 1,679 HFMD cases have been reported in Penang since January and, yesterday, yet another child was admitted to the Seberang Jaya Hospital, bringing the total number of cases at the hospital to two while two other patients are still at the Penang Hospital,” he said.
HFMD is a viral disease caused by the Coxsackie A16 and Enterovirus 71 (EV71) virus and the symptoms include fever, rash in the palms and feet and ulcers in the mouth and on the tongue, as well as upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). It is spread through saliva, blisters and faeces.
- Bernama
