KEPALA BATAS:Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Permatang Janggus, Penaga near here has been ordered to close beginning today until Oct 8 after a teacher there tested positive for COVID-19.

Penang State Education Department director Abdul Rashid Abdul Samad said the closure order was issued to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“At the moment, the school will be closed for eight days and any other decision will be made after a meeting with the Ministry of Health (MOH),” he said when contacted by Bernama here.

Abdul Rashid said he has yet to receive a full report from SK Permatang Janggus but was informed that all students are required to undergo COVID-19 screening conducted at the school today.

It is learnt that the female teacher, in her 40s, who resides in Sungai Petani, Kedah had complained of being unwell before receiving treatment at a hospital in that state and the result came out to be positive.

It is understood that the teacher who is the wife of a politician in Kedah had recently travelled to Sabah with her husband.

A Bernama check at  SK Permatang Janggus found that parents and guardians were waiting for their children to undergo COVID-19 screening outside the school gate.

According to the parents, they were informed by the school management this morning via the WhatsApp application that all students must undergo the COVID-19 screening and home quarantine following the positive case reported.

-- BERNAMA