SEREMBAN (Jan 27): A total of 743 school and educational institution students in Negeri Sembilan tested positive for Covid-19 involving 11 education clusters as of Wednesday (Jan 26).

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun said the 11 active clusters in the state involved eight educational institutions registered under the Negeri Sembilan Education Department while the rest involved private institutions.

"The situation is still under control...the monitoring and compliance with standard operating procedures (SOP) will be tightened in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 in educational institutions," he told reporters after chairing the Negeri Sembilan Covid-19 Special Security Committee Meeting here on Thursday (Jan 27).

Meanwhile, Aminuddin said students who were categorised as close contacts and ordered to undergo quarantine at school were not allowed to return to their hometown during the Chinese New Year holiday next week.

Apart from that, he said Form Five students living in hostels were also not encouraged to return to their hometown during the same period.

"We hope parents will give their cooperation...we want to ensure that these children are healthy to sit for the SPM exam which will be held soon," he said.

Aminuddin said if there was a new cluster in day schools, close contacts would be sent to the quarantine station (QS) at the Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT), Bandar Enstek.

On Wednesday, 311 new Covid-19 cases were recorded, bringing the total number of Covid-19 cases in the state to 117,962 with 1,334 deaths.

“There are 16 clusters that are still active, namely 11 education clusters, four workplace clusters and one detention centre cluster," he said.

He added that ‘Rumah Peranginan Kerajaan Negeri’ would be turned into Covid-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centres (PKRC) in preparation for the next wave of the pandemic.