Health minister: No need to close all schools
KOTA KINABALU: There is no need to close all primary and preschools nationwide to curb the hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) outbreak as efforts to contain it are being done diligently.
However, Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said local schools would be closed whenever outbreaks occurred.
“As of today, there are 40,198 cases nationwide (since January), with an average of 73 cases reported weekly,” he said after visiting Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 here yesterday.
In Sabah alone, the figure had increased to 2,200 cases.
Dzulkefly said nine schools across the country had been closed due to HFMD outbreak — seven in Sabah and one each in Penang and Pahang.
He said most districts in Sabah had been affected, but those with a high occurrence rate were the state capital here, in Beaufort, Sandakan and Penampang.
On the sexual harassment case against a orthopaedic department head in a Klang Valley hospital, Dzulkefly said it would be in the best interest of the investigation if the media did not amplify the issue for the time being.
When asked why no police report
could be tracked down on the case, Dzulkefly said: “I (myself) have instituted that investigation.
“We want to do this and conduct this (via) judicially. So, for the time being, we are not disclosing any profile of the perpetrator.
“You must trust us in whole and we will get to the bottom of it.”
On a news portal’s report that the Health Department had issued a gag order to stop medical officers from divulging information on the person or case, he said he was not aware of this.
“If you want all those involved to come out (to assist in investigations), we must give them (space) to do so.”
On his surprise working visit here yesterday, he said Sabah was the second state he visited after Terengganu.
He went to a health clinic and district hospital here, where he experienced first-hand the traffic congestion and lack of parking space.
He said there were also nonfunctioning machines and congestion in the maternity and children’s ward.
He was accompanied by state Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister Stephen Wong.