PETALING JAYA, April 23 — Carlsberg Malaysia will be sponsoring disinfection services for 680 Chinese and Tamil schools in Covid-19 red zones when the movement control order (MCO) is finally over.

The gesture is part of the brewery company’s Safer Schools campaign which aims to put the anxieties of parents and teachers to rest by providing schools with a worry-free learning environment for students.

Approximately 1,660 applications from vernacular schools requesting help have come in as of April 15, leading Carlsberg Malaysia to increase their donations of handheld thermometers to 3,600 so every eligible school can receive two units or more.

Among the applications, 680 schools fall within designated Covid-19 red zones in Malaysia and will receive additional disinfection services within their compounds totalling 8.4 million square feet after the MCO.

The disinfection process will cover high-risk areas such as canteens, classrooms, laboratories, washrooms, and libraries.

One million students are expected to benefit from the Safer Schools campaign, which received applications from every state in Peninsular Malaysia as well as Sabah and Sarawak.

A high volume of applications came from schools in Johor, Selangor, and Perak, where high numbers of Covid-19 cases were also recorded.

Beneficiary schools will receive two or more thermometers while 680 schools falling within Covid-19 red zones will receive additional disinfection services in May. — Picture courtesy of Carlsberg Malaysia

Carlsberg Malaysia managing director Stefano Clini hopes the campaign can provide much-needed assistance to students and teaching staff who will be going back to school in high-risk areas when the MCO lifts.

"Since we announced our Safer Schools campaign on April 2, the responses from principals, school boards, and parents of both Chinese and Tamil schools have been nothing short of overwhelming.

"After receiving plenty of heartfelt applications while the number of Covid-19 red zones continued to grow, we believe our initiative for safer school environments was a timely and invaluable contribution to local communities during this trying time.

"We are glad to share that we have extended our contribution to all applications which will receive thermometers to monitor students’ and teaching staff’s body temperatures, with priority given to schools located in red zones for the disinfection of school facilities that pose the highest infection risks,” Clini said in a press release.

Beneficiary schools will be contacted by April 29 with details on the delivery of thermometers, with arrangements for additional disinfection services for eligible schools to be completed in May.