PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of Health (MOH) is confident that the implementation of the School Reopening Management Guidelines is able to contain the spread of Covid-19 infection if social distancing is carried out properly.
Health director-general, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the guidelines formulated would be improved from time to time for the well-being of students, teachers and parents.
“Yesterday, I had the opportunity to see the implementation (guidelines). The guidelines are there and the priority (of school reopening) is for form five and six students.
“It takes about two weeks (announcement before schools reopen)...but we are certain a decision has not been made on reopening schools even though we have prepared all the guidelines,” he told the daily media conference on Covid-19 development here today.
Dr Noor Hisham was commenting on the worries of parents and teachers over the compliance of students to the guidelines which would be announced tomorrow.
Education Minister Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin was reported as saying that the guidelines would be distributed to enable school managements and teachers to carry out the appropriate preparations.
He said the guidelines involved movements of students in school starting from arrival to finishing the daily session, have been drafted in detailed by MOH and the National Security Council (NSC).
In this regard, Dr Noor Hisham gave an example on the implementation of the guidelines which stressed on social distancing among students.
“For instance, students will not be eating at the canteen. They will queue up one metre apart to take their food at the canteen and proceed to eat in the classroom as it is arranged in accordance with social distancing.
“This is to ensure the implementation proceeds smoothly,” he said.
Asked on the view of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the compassionate use of remdesivir on Covid-19 patients, Dr Noor Hisham said MOH is monitoring for the side effects displayed by patients.
MOH in its solidarity test with WHO had received the anti-viral medicine to treat 100 patients but for the time being, only nine patients were being closely monitored by MOH after being treated with the medicine. - Bernama
