KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — The Education Ministry is the authority to decide if any school should close once a Covid-19 case has been confirmed, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.

He said the Education Ministry does not need to wait for a risk assessment from the Health Ministry in order to issue the closure.

"The meeting today agreed that the Ministry of Education will issue instructions to close a school if there are teachers or students who have been confirmed Covid-19 positive, without waiting for a risk assessment by the Health Ministry,” he said in a statement after chairing a virtual meeting of the National Security Council (NSC).

He said the NSC decided to grant sole authority to the Education Ministry during the meeting after discussing two infected students at Sekolah Kebangsaan Bangsar in the national capital.

Muhyiddin noted that Covid-19 cases have been on the rise in the Klang Valley.

"The number of new Covid-19 cases within Selangor and the Federal Territories was also discussed. This includes the case involving students at Sekolah Kebangsaan Bangsar,” he said.

The school had two infected students yesterday but remained opened today as it reportedly had no instructions to close from the Education Ministry.

However, parents of the students took matters into their own hands and kept their children at home; Berita Harian reported a 100 per cent absenteeism rate today.