theSun | TUESDAY JUNE 23 2009 3

news without borders

Action
School closed after 2nd case
by Hemananthani Sivanandam
committees
formed in
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

KUALA LUMPUR: SRK Assunta 2 in Petal-

ing Jaya has been ordered to close for one
SRK
Assunta2 all Selangor
assistant
week from yesterday after an 11-year-old
pupil was confirmed to have Influenza
head
mistress
districts
A(H1N1). Anant Kaur
The pupil became Malaysia’s 58th puts up by Tim Leonard
A(H1N1) case after she came in contact with a notice newsdesk@thesundaily.com
the 43rd case in the same school but in a announcing
different class. the closure SHAH ALAM: The Selangor govern-
To date, there are seven locally-transmit- of the ment is prepared to face an outbreak
ted cases, of which three are students. The school. of Influenza A(H1N1), especially
11-year-old is the seventh local transmis- in schools, and has formed action
sion case. committees in all districts to take
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong precautionary measures.
Lai said the closure of the school until State executive councillor for
Saturday is to curb the spread of the global health, plantation workers, poverty
ANWAR FAIZ/THESUN

A(H1N1) pandemic in Malaysia. and caring government Dr A. Xavier

SRK Assunta 2 is the second school to be Jayakumar said yesterday the action
closed following the A(H1N1) outbreak. The committees will be headed by the
first – SRJK (C) Jalan Davidson – has been respective district officers and their
ordered to be closed until Friday. main task is to work on ways to curb
Speaking to reporters in the Parliament the spread of the virus.
lobby yesterday, Liow urged children from “We need to be extra cautious, es-
the affected schools to impose self-quaran- contacts” together with other departments pecially in schools, as three schools
tine and good personal hygiene to ensure and ministries. in Selangor now have confirmed
the virus does not spread. “We don’t plan to close all schools unless cases of the A(H1N1) virus,” he said
“I recommend those students who come the virus continues to spread rampantly, after the state government’s monthly
back from countries like the US, Australia then we will discuss it with the Education assembly at the State Secretariat
and the Philippines to undergo self-quaran- Ministry and the National Security Council,” building.
tine as most of the cases recently are from he said. “I have instructed all the district
these countries,” he said. Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr officers to meet with the school au-
“The self-quarantine would prevent the Wee Ka Siong, who was present at the press thorities and to work closely with the
spread.” conference, said his ministry has been State Health Department officials and
He also said individuals placed receiving calls from concerned other authorities.”
under home quarantine need to
A(H1N1) parents asking if they should Jayakumar said the district offic-
SHARIL AMIN/THESUN

be responsible. Those found

not obeying the home quar- ZA send their children, who have
returned from overseas, back
ers and their action committees will
have to provide constant updates on
INFLUEN

HO

antine order may be fined to school. the situation.

TLINE

up to RM10,000, jailed for He said it was up to the The latest school in Selangor with
two years, or both, under the schools to make internal ar- a confirmed case is SMK Damansara
Disease Control Act 1998. rangements with the parents Utama. The other two schools are
“The Ministry of Health depending on the situation. SRK Assunta 2 in Petaling Jaya and
has been monitoring most “Like the case of 30 stu- advantage of the approval. Thus, it’s really Five SM Seksyen 9 in Shah Alam.
03

00

of those placed under home -8 3 dents from SMK Seksyen 9
quarantine but it’s also the self- 881 00/ Shah Alam, who returned from
responsibility of these people (that
02 overseas, the school authorities
is important),” Liow said. thought the risk of the virus being
“They must have the sense of responsibil- spread to other students was high, so the
ity to protect themselves and the country.” school allowed them to be quarantined and
Asked if the ministry will instruct all not attend school,” he said.
schools to be closed to control the spread of Similarly, other schools can make inter-
the virus, he said it would not do so unless nal arrangements if deemed as a necessary
the spread of the virus gets out of control. measure to control the spread of the virus.
Liow urged the public not to panic as the “We can’t give a blanket approval for all
ministry is “still able to trace most of the schools as then all the schools would take
prevent the spread of the disease, which
is easily transmitted.
“We must adhere to the advice of the
briefs health authorities to ensure the matter
does not get out of hand.” –Bernama
Najib concerned Schools get directive
PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri KUALA LUMPUR: All schools in the
Najib Abdul Razak is concerned over the country have been instructed to
closure of two schools in the Klang Valley monitor students for symptoms of
after two pupils were tested positive for Influenza A(H1N1) and report them
Influenza A(H1N1). immediately to the nearest hospital
“I am concerned. Actually, I am very, or health centre.
very concerned and I hope measures The directive from Director-Gen-
announced by the deputy prime minister eral of Education Tan Sri Alimuddin
(Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) will bear fruit,” Mohd Dom comes in the wake of two
he told reporters after delivering a key- schools being closed for a week, and
note address at the 7th Heads of Mission one class each in four schools shut
Conference at Putrajaya International down because of detected cases.
Convention Centre yesterday. “If any student or school staff is
“I hope all quarters will give their co- confirmed to have contracted the flu,
operation as these steps were taken to then action must be taken in accord-
up to the school authorities to do what is students The lastest victim, a 14-year-old
necessary,” he said. at SMK student, is the brother of a Year Five
There has been an increase of eight Seksyen 9 pupil at SRK Assunta 2, who was
cases, making it 58, since Sunday. They Shah Alam, earlier confirmed with the virus.
consist of five imported cases and three lo- all wearing Jayakumar said all the classmates
cally-transmitted cases. face masks, of the three students confirmed with
A statement from the MOH said all the discuss the A(H1N1) virus have been placed
eight cases are Malaysians. The imported the latest under quarantine.
cases are from Australia (two cases), United situation in So far, only students in the same
Kingdom (one) the their school. class as the confirmed cases have
Philippines (one) and been placed under quaran-
Phuket (one). tine.
“If any students took the
same bus or car to school
ance with the advice of the Health with the affected students,
Department,” Alimuddin said in a then they must undergo self-
statement. – Bernama quarantine in their homes for
the next seven days,” he said.
First case in Sarawak He said the state govern-
ment will close down all the
MIRI: A 23-year-old student from
Swinburne University in Kuching be-
schools only if the situation
warrants it.
came the first person to be confirmed “We are not going to take
positive for the H1N1 influenza in any chances. If the situation
Sarawak, Deputy Chief Minister Tan warrants it, then we will close
Sri Dr George Chan said last night. down the schools.”
He said the student had been However, the government
placed in the Sarawak General will not make it compulsory for
Hospital’s isolation ward in Kuching the affected schools to conduct
since last Sunday after developing screening on the students.
fever on his return from Melbourne There are also no plans to con-
last Friday, Bernama reports. duct filtering exercises.
He said there were 21 passengers The confirmed cases have
who flew together with the student been quarantined at Sungai
on flight MH2504 back to Kuching Buloh Hospital and Tengku
from Kuala Lumpur, after arriving Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in
from Melbourne on flight MH128. Klang.

High Court schedules July 8 for Anwar’s sodomy trial

by S. Tamarai Chelvi
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar
Ibrahim’s sodomy case is scheduled
to be heard in the High Court here on
July 8.
Anwar’s application to strike out
the sodomy charge will be also be
heard on the same day, and his ap-
plication to obtain several documents
in connection with the case will be
heard on July 1.
High Court judge Datuk Mohamad
Zabidin Diah postponed the trial yes-
terday after Anwar’s lawyer, Sulaiman
Abdullah, informed the court the pros-
ecution had filed an affidavit-in-reply
for the application for documents.
“In view of the nature of the ap-
plication, we need to file an affidavit
in reply,” he said.
Sulaiman said he will file it by
Monday and the prosecution would
be able to file its affidavit in reply, if
necessary, before July 1.
He asked for the application to
strike out the charge, which was fixed
for Friday, to be vacated and heard as
a mention.
Sulaiman also told the court an
appeal against the judge’s decision
to transfer the case to the High Court
has not been fixed by the Court of
Appeal for a hearing.
Solicitor-General II Datuk Mohd
Yusof Zainal Abiden said the prosecu-
tion needed time to file its reply to the
application to strike out the charge.
Anwar is charged with sodomising
Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, his former
personal aide, at Desa Damansara
Condominium on Jalan Setiakasih,
Bukit Damansara, between 3.01pm
and 4.30pm on June 26 last year.
In the application to strike out the
charge, Anwar is seeking an order to
acquit and discharge him. The sodomy
trial was originally scheduled for July
1 to 24.