By Norrasyidah Arshad
SHAH ALAM, June 27 — The state government plans to implement its Preventing and Detecting Outbreaks at Ignition Sites (POIS) programme in schools to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
State executive councillor for public health Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud said POIS which has been successful in controlling workplace clusters in factories should be extended to educational institutions.
“It is a measure to curb the pandemic among school students or also at higher learning institutions.
“School authorities will be informed of actions that need to be taken if the school session is opened, we do not want the students to be exposed to the virus,” she said during Studio Birumuda’s virtual forum titled “PH Report Card: Fighting Covid-19’ which was aired live on Facebook on Thursday.
Commenting further, she said the state government was also considering making POIS compulsory to all factories as opposed to its current implementation which is on a voluntary basis.
“There are many clusters in factories, so Selangor may make POIS mandatory to prevent workplace clusters,” she said.
On January 6, the Selangor Task Force for Covid-19 (STFC) had launched POIS to prevent and reduce workplace clusters.
Registered employers need to set up a committee consisting of several small groups with different functions whose roles are to identify high-risk areas and activities (in their premises).
The SELangkah app records the in-and-out movement of employees and monitors the POIS system.
Among the companies that have participated in POIS include Nestle Malaysia Bhd, in its factory located in Section 15, here, and Celestica Malaysia Sdn Bhd in Johor and Kedah.