HFMD situation in Sabah under control — minister

KOTA KINABALU: The Hand Foot Mouth disease (HFMD) situation in Sabah was under control and there was no cause for alarm as the Sabah Health Department was monitoring the situation, said Health and People’s Well-being Minister Stephen Wong.

“Closure of schools are undertaken to stop the transmission within the affected premises and for disinfection and cleaning to be carried out,” Stephen said ina statement yesterday.

He also urged members of the public to stop spreading news about school closure that do not come from reliable sources such as the Health or Education Department as this would result in unnecessary alarm.

The Sabah Health Department will be providing updates on the HFMD situation in Sabah, assured Stephen.

Meanwhile, Education and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Yusof Yakob said there were guidelines to combat the spread of the HFMD which needed to be observed strictly.

The guidelines include school closure and quarantine, which unfortunately does disrupt the operation of the affected school, said Yusof.

“But we must adhere to these guidelines,” he stressed.

Yusof added that parents must share the responsibility and urged them not to send their children to school if they were showing symptoms of the disease.

“They need to send them for treatment at the hospital,” he said to reporters after the closing ceremony of Angkasa’s School Cooperative Day and Education Fair held at SMK Tansau.

As of July 14, a total of 1,605 cases of HFMD had been detected in Sabah.

It was also reported by the Sabah Health Department that an average of 58 cases were reported every week.