KUALA LUMPUR: The government has no plans to temporarily bar teachers and students who have travelled to China from returning to classes.
Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infections in Malaysia were isolated cases and there was no evidence it was in the community.
“We have seven coronavirus cases in Malaysia to date, which are all isolated cases.
“If there is evidence of novel coronavirus incidents in the community, then we have to take more stringent measures (such as restricting students and teachers returning from China from attending classes).
“There is no need for schools to restrict assemblies, outdoor or extracurricular activities. We will make an announcement if there is a need,” he told the New Straits Times yesterday.
He advised schools to ensure there were hand washing facilities and provide hand sanitisers to students and teachers.
“It is encouraged. It is a good practice for students to wash their hands frequently and maintain good hygiene, especially since we have the influenza virus in the community.
“This will be a good preventive measure. It does not have to be hand sanitisers. Providing running water and soap will suffice.”
It is learnt that most schools in the Klang Valley had not been provided with face masks or hand sanitisers after schools reopened after the Lunar New Year holiday. Schools were provided with face masks during the influenza outbreak last month.
Parents with children attending national schools said they did not receive any circular on the coronavirus outbreak or on precautionary measures to take.
Australia has reported a fifth case of the disease. The government advised parents with children who recently returned from China to refrain from returning to school for two weeks as a precautionary measure.
Several private and boarding schools in Australia isolated students who visited China and placed them in separate living quarters.
In Singapore, students and workers in some sectors were told to abide by a compulsory 14-day leave of absence if they returned from mainland China within the last 14 days.
Dr Lee said the Malaysian government did not impose such measures, but was looking into precautionary measures taken by other countries.
“The ministry’s disease control division is reviewing actions taken by these countries. It will decide what is best and what is necessary (to be implemented based on the situation in Malaysia).
“Hopefully, we can contain it (the disease). That’s the objective. But we must also bear in mind that sometimes containment may fail. So it is crucial for everyone to have good hygiene.
“We are aware of measures taken by Singapore (and Australia). We’ve got to look at the merits of (those steps) before making a decision.
“Of course, when they do it, they probably have their reasons. It certainly needs consideration, but we do not necessarily have to agree with what they are doing and follow them.”
Dr Lee said students and staff of the Education Ministry should seek immediate treatment if they experienced symptoms of the disease within two weeks after returning from China.
He said while this was a fast-spreading disease, coronavirus patients could recover even without treatment, similar to influenza patients.
“Only a certain percentage of those tested positive for this virus develop severe pneumonia. It is, however, premature to state the mortality rate as this can only be confirmed after this episode. But I think it could be between five and 15 per cent.
“China has a larger experience with regard to this coronavirus and they are experimenting with different drugs. But there is no conclusive evidence on which drug will be useful.
“So what will be done is if patients have symptoms of the virus, they will be treated according to the symptoms. We normally keep them under observation until they are well.
“Samples will be taken to ensure they no longer have the virus before we discharge them.”
Dr Lee said it was too early to say if these patients would develop an immunity to the virus as more evidence was required.
“Since this is a new virus, we still do not know how our body will respond to the virus.”
Parent Action Group for Education chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said international schools asked students and teachers who visited China recently to self-impose a 14-day leave.
Students and teachers in national and vernacular schools, she said, should get permission to do so even if there was no such directive.
“Parents should take the initiative for their children’s wellbeing and not wait for schools to react.
“Practising good hygiene should be a daily routine and not during a crisis only. Wear surgical face masks and use sanitisers with high alcohol content.
“Parents of children who recently returned from China should self-impose leave. We have had SOP (standard operating procedures) from our experience with H1N1, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and HFM (hand, foot and mouth disease). Follow them, and the contamination will be curbed.”