Rising student cluster numbers cause for worry in Penang

GEORGE TOWN – The education sector has contributed the most to Covid-19 cases in Penang in this past month after returning students infected their fellow pupils as well as teachers.

Sharing the state’s latest pandemic data, health exco Dr Norlela Ariffin said that there are 14 active clusters now, eight of which are from educational institutions, three from factories, two from workplaces, and one from a religious place.

The construction sector yielded no clusters at all, which she said the state could boast about as many cases previously came from among construction workers.

In a statement, Norlela said a total of 236 cases were reported today, contributing to a total of 1,853 active cases of which 81% are under home quarantine, 14% are at public quarantine centres, and 4.9% are hospitalised, including three ventilated in intensive care units.

Altogether, Penang has had 166,562 cases of Covid-19 and 1,769 people have died from it, including one last night.

Norlela also revealed that the majority of the new cases detected were from those ages 18 to 29, confirming reports that the Delta and Omicron variants do not discriminate based on age and can infect anyone.

The Balik Pulau district has the most cases per 100,000 people now, followed by Kepala Batas, Bukit Mertajam, Nibong Tebal, and George Town.

The prevailing variants still active in Penang are Beta and Delta, with only 20 Omicron infections as of January 25.

Norlela urged the people here to take extra precautions when outdoors, as the Chinese New Year celebrations are expected to bring crowds and traffic congestion.

She added that it is equally important to conduct routine testing, especially if one is displaying  symptoms.

Norlela also paid tribute to the people here for cooperating in getting their vaccines and boosters, saying that data for the past week showed that Penang came number two after Selangor in vaccinations.

Despite concerns driven by anti-vaccine campaigners, she said it is important that the people here cooperate so that Penang can effectively attain herd immunity and in turn allow the nation to move to the Covid-19 endemic phase. – The Vibes, January 30, 2022