KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 – A total of 10 per cent of primary school children will be selected randomly for Covid-19 self-tests on a weekly basis as part of the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) National Covid-19 Testing Strategy.
In a nearly two-and-a-half-minute video uploaded on Twitter today, Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said random testing among primary school children had been carried out since December 1 last year.
The MOH, however, has since agreed to allow the selected students to conduct the self-test at home, effective this week. The rapid test kits will be provided to the student by the school.
The students will then have to report the result of their Covid-19 self-test to the school. Details of the new approach will be outlined clearly in a release to be issued by the Ministry of Education (MOE) soon.
Mohd Radzi said it is very important that parents of the selected child monitor and ensure that the Covid-19 test is performed at home based on the procedures set out.
“This is to ensure that school sessions can take place in an orderly and safe manner. If it is not implemented according to the stated procedures, it will affect not only your close families, but your children’s friends as well as their teachers at school.
“Therefore, it is very important that when we start to implement this new approach, parents play a role to ensure that this testing can be implemented in an orderly manner and we can follow all the procedures set by the MOH.
“We want to make sure that this school session can continue safely and I am confident that with this effort and cooperation from all parents, we can ensure that our children can attend school in a safe manner,” Mohd Radzi said.