IT is simply too dangerous to reopen schools for physical classes in Sarawak.
The scheduled date of reopening schools on October 3 as set by the Education Ministry must not be imposed in Sarawak as the Delta variant of Covid-19 is raging out of control.
To add to the anxieties is the fact that this state will not be able to vaccinate the 250,000 teens aged from 12 to 18 years in this circumstance in time for the date.
The state Disaster Management Committee has not managed to kickstart any vaccination programme for these school-going teens.
The committee advisor Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian said that the state government is already sourcing the vaccines for the teens.
He added that the vaccination for these Sarawakians aged below 18 will start “next week”.
He has been saying that repeatedly and his “next week” seems unending.
Almost every day for almost two months, he has been talking about the “next week” vaccination for teens.
Even if his latest promise of “next week” really comes true next week, it will still not be possible to administer two doses to each of the 250,000 teens aged between 12 to 18 in this vast state by October 3.
What about the primary school kids aged between six and 12 years old? How about kindergarten and pre-school kids?
So far, there is no official decision made to vaccinate these very young ones.
Under the present circumstances, it is best not to reopen schools for physical classes in Sarawak at least until next year.
The infectivity rate of Covid-19 in Sarawak has reached 1.5 times last week.
Unvaccinated young very much at risk
The death of an 8-year-old girl in Serian (reported on August 29) and a 17-year-old boy in Kuching (August 26) due to Covid-19 is a reminder that our young ones are very vulnerable to the attack of the coronavirus.
Imagine what deadly impact the Delta variant can do in a school filled with hundreds or thousands of pupils in one small compound.
Last month, there was a surge of about 38,000 new cases of Covid-19 infections throughout Sarawak. That was an increase of 224% compared to July.
This serious rate of increase from the end of July to the end of last month was due to the Delta variant rampaging throughout the state.
Sarawak Health Department director Datuk Dr Mohamed Sapian Mohamed said the hospitals in the state may soon reach critical levels again as every day for the past two weeks, it has seen a daily increase of more than a thousand to more than two thousand new infections.
“We are now planning to urgently open up another 10 isolation, quarantine and treatment centres outside of hospitals to cater to the new daily cases,” he said.
“We already have 45 such centres throughout the state.”
“They have more than 8,500 beds but it will still not be enough to cater to the daily new infected patients.
“There has been an increase of 224% in infections last month compared to the number of cases in July in the state.”
“The Delta variant is the cause of the surge as it is up to eight times more infectious compared to the original Covid-19 strain,” he told the state Disaster Management Committee in his latest report tabled last week.
He added that the most worrying thing is that at least 30% of the new cases in Sarawak involved those aged below 18 who are still not vaccinated.
“For those vaccinated, they are less likely to succumb to severe infection attacks, but the unvaccinated are exposed to serious threats,” he said.
Dr Sapian said the hospitals in the whole state will soon face a shortage of beds and personnel if the tide of daily increase in infections is not brought under control.
The Education Department in Sarawak and state leaders must look at all these latest data from the state Health Department and make the necessary decision.
The only decision they can come to is very clear – they cannot reopen schools in Sarawak for physical classes yet, not for the next few months at least. – The Vibes, September 5, 2021
Stephen Then is a reporter at The Vibes. He is based in Miri
