HFMD forces closure of preschool in Seremban

SEREMBAN, Aug 3 (Bernama) -- A preschool in Negeri Sembilan has been ordered to close in view of the Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD), raising to five the number of educational institutions shut down as of today in the state.

State Health, Environment, Cooperatives and Consumerism Committee chairman S. Veerapan said today the preschool was Sekolah Kebangsaan Seremban 2A.

All the five institutions - a preschool, three kindergartens and a school - are in the Seremban district.

"The number of reported HFMD cases (from January to today) is 1,853 compared to only 591 during the same period in 2017," he said in a statement.

Veerapan gave the distribution of HFMD cases by district for 2018 as follows: Seremban - 1,300 cases; Jempol - 136; Port Dickson - 122; Kuala Pilah - 97; Rembau - 95 cases; Jelebu - 55 and Tampin - 48.

For the 31st week of this year, the number of registered cases reported was 255, with 185 of these in Seremban; 29 in Port Dickson; 17 in Kuala Pilah; 10 in Rembau; seven in Jempol and seven in Jelebu.

-- BERNAMA