KOTA KINABALU: 102 out of 221 secondary schools in Sabah have recorded Covid-19 cases since Jan 16 involving students and teachers.
State Covid-19 spokesperson Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the cases had prompted health authorities to look into the possibility of temporarily closing schools to prevent further spike in cases.
"The Sabah Health Department will observe and make its evaluation on every reported case.
"If there is evidence which shows the virus will cause a cluster at schools, the district office will stop schooling sessions for 10 days to break the chain of infection," he said during a virtual press conference on Covid-19 update.
Masidi said the closure could help to trace close contacts, conduct more effective screening as well as implement quarantine measures to prevent the emergence of clusters.
He said schooling sessions could be resumed with the implementation of the Standard Operating Procedures among students and teachers.
Today, Sabah recorded 169 Covid-19 cases with two deaths in Kota Kinabalu and another one in Lahad Datu.
A cluster dubbed Batu 38 Kalabakan has 18 cumulative cases of which the index is a private timber company staff member who developed symptoms and tested positive for Covid-19 on Feb 4.
Sabah has no backlog of Covid-19 samples as of today.