He said this when asked to verify news that several schools in Penang have had classes shuttered due to outbreaks of the disease.
Chow said he had not heard any official announcement of any school in Penang being temporarily closed due to Covid-19, adding that it was up to the health and education ministries to decide on the closure of schools based on risk analyses.
“But we have been getting a lot of questions from worried parents wondering if their schools are infected and if they would be closed.
“I feel that the list of such schools should be made public so that parents can decide whether to send their kids to school or not. As far as we know, nine out of the 10 active clusters in the state are related to factories, while the other is a penal facility,” he said on the sidelines of an event in Komtar here today.
Recently, 19 schools in the Petaling district in Selangor, were ordered closed due to new Covid-19 clusters detected there.
Earlier, Chow witnessed the signing of an agreement between Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Angkasa X Innovation Sdn Bhd and state-owned Digital Penang.
Angkasa X and USM will collaborate to offer a professional course in satellite engineering, while Digital Penang will market and promote the course to potential students from the manufacturing sector in Penang.
Angkasa X executive chairman Sean Seah said Penang would also be made a testing centre for satellite research and development through the creation of a “SpaceTech Park” in the future.
He said the company planned to launch a Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite able to provide internet connectivity to rural areas in the Asean region.
Seah said at least RM5 billion would be spent in the next 15 to 20 years to launch 500 LEO satellites in the region, with the first one expected to be launched by the end of 2022.
Chow said Penang was an ideal location for such an investment as the talent pool in the electrical and electronic sector required for the aerospace sector was readily available.
CLICK HERE FOR OUR LIVE UPDATE OF THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA