JOHOR BARU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – The Johor Baru district has been declared a red zone after the number of Covid-19 cases surpassed 40 in the span of 14 days.

Johor health and environment committee chairman R. Vidyananthan said monitoring and surveillance efforts would be boosted because of an expected increase in the number of cases in the near future.

“The Johor Baru district was declared a red zone on Thursday (Oct 29). Based on information, most of the cases reported involved the spread of the disease among family members and at workplaces.

“Because of this, the state health department has placed the institutions involved under a home surveillance order.

“Ten new Covid-19 cases were reported on Thursday, including nine cases from existing clusters and one from other screenings,” he said in a statement on Friday.

Mr Vidyananthan noted that there are currently three active clusters in Johor, namely the Bayu, Kempas and Rinting clusters.

“The cumulative number of positive cases for the Bayu cluster remains at eight as at Thursday, which involved three work colleagues and five of their family members,” he said, adding that 104 close contacts have been identified from the cluster.

He added that the Kempas cluster has recorded some 42 cases, involving eight work colleagues, 17 of their family members, 11 colleagues of their family members, five students and one of the student’s family members.

Meanwhile, the Rinting cluster recorded 10 cases that involved two colleagues, six of their family members and two friends of their children.

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Separately, a primary school in Johor Baru has been told to shut down for a week after one of its pupils tested positive for Covid-19.

A notice on the matter was issued to students, parents and teachers on Thursday.

“Since early March, the school has taken the necessary precautions to avoid Covid-19, and will continue to do so.

“Unfortunately, on Thursday, the Health Ministry confirmed the spread of the disease in the school,” said the notice.

It added that the Johor Education Department had ordered the school to shut down for seven days, starting from Friday (Oct 30) to Thursday (Nov 5) as a safety measure.

It was learnt that a Primary 4 student tested positive for Covid-19 and has been sent to hospital for treatment and isolation.

When contacted, state education, information, heritage and culture committee chairman Mazlan Bujang confirmed the closure of the school.

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