Sarawak closes 1,265 schools

Star: KUCHING: Year One to Year Three classes in 1,265 primary schools in Sarawak have been ordered closed for the whole of next week.
This was to check the spread of the hand, foot and mouth (HFM) disease which has killed seven children, all below four years old.
Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam said the closure order to all kindergartens, nurseries, day-care centres and playschools would also be extended until March 26.
“All tuition centres catering to pupils below 12 years old must also close during the same period,” he told reporters here yesterday.
Before the start of the current first term school holidays, 14 primary schools where HFM cases had been reported were closed for two weeks.
The Health Ministry had on March 3 ordered all 488 kindergartens in the state to close.
Dr Chan, also state disaster and relief committee chairman, said the closure of the classes was necessary to control the spread of the disease.
The state Education Department will inform the schools when to replace the classes.
He said 254 new HFM cases were reported yesterday, bringing the total to 4,827.
Of the new cases 91 were reported in Miri division, while in Mukah division there were 34 cases, Sibu dividion (28) and Kuching divising (27).
The number of patients still warded was 89.
Dr Chan said among them were two seriously ill patients, aged four and five, who were warded in Kapit and Bintulu.
He advised parents not to take young children to weddings or birthday parties so as to prevent children from getting or spreading the disease.