Huge jump in Covid-19 cases involving adolescents

PETALING JAYA: There has been a huge rise in the number of Covid-19 cases involving adolescents under the age of 18, with over 400,000 cases reported this year compared to only 12,000 last year.

Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that of the total, 252,569 cases involved school children and 42,831 cases were preschool children.

To date, 62 fatalities involving adolescents have been recorded, Khairy said at a webinar, titled “Living With Covid-19: Children and Teenagers”, this morning.

“It is our shared responsibility to make sure our children are protected from Covid-19 by ensuring a safe environment for them, including taking appropriate preventive and protective measures,” he said.

Khairy also said about 30% of the 2.5 million students aged 12 to 17 nationwide have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

He stressed that reliance on vaccines was not sufficient to protect the people from the virus, and that safety and preventative measures were still needed.

These include not sending children to school if they were symptomatic or Covid-19 close contacts, ensuring proper ventilation in schools, screenings and disinfection works. –Free Malaysia Today