MIRI – A pair of politicians from opposing sides of the political divide have warned that the Delta variant sweeping through Sarawak now will hit school pupils with devastating effect when physical classes reopen next month.
Parti Rakyat Sarawak Wanita chief Datuk Doris Sophia Brodie said the women members of her party are extremely worried over the latest Covid-19 data indicating rising daily infections and fatalities.
“We, women and parents, are very worried over the fate of our children and the rest of Sarawak’s children (over 240,000, aged 12 to 17) in view of schools being scheduled to reopen next month.
“The infections among adults are worsening. Imagine what could happen if unvaccinated kids and teachers gather in big numbers daily for long hours.
“The Delta variant is sweeping through Sarawak, spreading like wildfire because it is airborne,” she told reporters in Kuching today.
Brodie suggested that it will be safer if only vaccinated children are allowed to attend physical classes.
Furthermore, she stressed that every teacher must be inoculated before they are allowed to conduct physical lessons in schools.
“Since the ongoing vaccination for teens only involves those aged 12 to 17, it means primary school kids will all be exposed to the serious threats of Delta as they are not vaccinated at all,” the senator pointed out.
Brodie said while her women wing welcomes the move by the Education Ministry to limit classes to only 50% of students on weekly rotation, they feel that the virus will still spread among unvaccinated pupils and teachers.
Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii said that the current Delta wave attacking adults in Sarawak should serve as a warning.
Speaking in his social media chat groups, the medical doctor gave the same warning as Brodie, saying that when schools reopen and children gather en-masse in one compound, the danger of Delta spreading among them multiplies.
“In some countries in Europe, school children were seriously infected after schools reopened. The Delta variant is much tougher to deal with due to its increased infectivity and impact.
“What sort of blueprint do we have ready in place to avert the Delta wave in our schools?
“If we go ahead with reopening schools without proper planning on how to make sure the spread can be avoided, the schools in Sarawak will become the venues for multiple Delta waves,” Dr Yii warned.
The DAP federal lawmaker said he will raise his concerns in Dewan Rakyat which has reconvened this morning.
Similarly, Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing yesterday also questioned the wisdom on reopening physical classes in Sarawak schools as scheduled for October 3 in view of the latest situation where the state saw 5,291 new infections due to the raging Delta variant and a death toll of 625.
To date, Sarawak has the highest number of Delta cases and other variants of concern as compared to other states in the country. – The Vibes, September 13, 2021
