I HAVE ORDERED MY GRANCHILDREN TO STAY AT HOME FOR THE WEEK AND MAYBE MORE DEPENDING

It was a long weekend, Malaysians of all races and creeds hit the roads, there was a mass exodus although not as huge as we used to experience in the past but nevertheless in this period a few hundred thousand is already dangerous, very dangerous especially if there are hidden clusters around.

There is the Ulu Tiram cluster and that could be really bad, especially as some priests do commute between parishes,however the Church has been strict with rulings and Bishop Bernard cancelled all Masses the moment he knew of the case of the Seminarian who returned from the Philippines.

Nevertheless we must consider that there can be people who are infected and unless we are sure we can't be sure enough to take risks these are lives on the line. I know the Church will give the authorities all the cooperation, in fact after the relaxation there are Churches who have not opened yet, they want to make sure they have all the control measures in place and one such parish is the parish where I attend Mass.

Then there is the person from Kedah who after being infected attended a Hari Raya function.

This person was exposed to the Sivagangga cluster, knowing this he went for a medical check up, and sought a Covid-19 test at a private clinic on July 27, but it was a rapid test kit (RTK) antibody test which, unlike a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, unable to detect Covid-19 in the early stages of infection. The result was negative. The patient is not  expected to know the difference, he went for a Covid 19 check up and he got one he was negative so he went for the Raya gathering.

Following this the person began to experience symptoms of fever and cough but did not contact the nearest district health office or health clinic for treatment.A day later, after the person was involved in Hari Raya Aidiladha activities, the person informed that he is a close contact of the index case."Following that, screening was conducted using an RT-PCR test and was found to be positive with Covid-19. The person is admitted to Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah for treatment."

Now from the Nort and the South we have exposures that can have far reaching circumstances and the Health authorities must alert the Education Authorities about the risks here and how children could lead to the spreading of the disease even faster.

Let's not be like Tokyo or Victoria and act only when it is too late act now and reduce the risks.

In view of the above I have put my foot down my grand children are not going to school for at least this week, I feel that is no sufficient considering the risks after having read and followed what has happened elsewhere.

Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah please give your professional opinions t the Minister of Education and the Prime Minister they have to act and act fast there is no time to waist.