GUA MUSANG: The Etonobotani national service (NS) camp is now serving as a temporary home for the Batek tribe in Kampung Kuala Koh here.
The first group of nine residents from the village, which has been hit by a bad outbreak of measles, were checked in there after health screening at the Gua Musang Hospital, which found them to be afflicted by the disease.
Fifteen people from the tribe have died, believed to be due to the outbreak. The Batek are a semi-nomadic tribe and vaccination against measles is not common,
Gua Musang Welfare Department officer Hizani Ibrahim said they were accompanied by some 20 family members who would be allowed to stay there as well to support the nine who are under quarantine.
“We will monitor their condition, provide meals and ensure that they are comfortable,“ he told Bernama.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had instructed that the NS camp be opened to accommodate the tribe to contain the outbreak.
Hizani said the camp can accommodate up to 80 people and that the length of their stay had yet to be determined and would depend on further instructions.
In KUALA TERENGGANU, Terengganu Education Department director Shafruddin Ali Hussain said only 13 out of the orang asli students of Sekolah Kebangsaan Sungai Berua turned up for classes today.
He said the poor turnout was due to most of them following their parents to the Kampung Gerdong orang asli settlement out fear in the wake of measles outbreaks at a number of orang asli settlements besides Kampung Kuala Koh.
He added that the students at the school were given face masks as a precautionary measure. — Bernama
