COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN A RELIGIOUS SECONDARY SCHOOL IN SETIU DISTRICT, TERENGGANU STATE OF MALAYSIA: INCIDENCE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a major public health threat in Malaysia. The infection has spread not only in community, but also in educational institutions among students. This study aimed to estimate the incidence of COVID-19 infection and its associated factors among students and staff in Setiu district religious high school in Terengganu state. Materials and Methods: This study was a comparative cross-sectional study between the COVID-19 case and contact groups conducted in SMα (an anonymized name) high school in Setiu district, Terengganu. All notified cases that fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria from 1st May 2021 until 24th May 2021 were included in the study. Descriptive statistics, simple and multiple logistic regressions were used for data analysis. Result: From 1st May 2021 until 24th May 2021, there were 124 COVID-19 cases and 569 contacts to COVID-19 cases registered in Setiu. The incidence of COVID-19 infection throughout the SMα COVID-19 cluster was 17.89% (95%CI: 0.12, 0.25). Female gender, exposure to infected person in hostel, being quarantine in hostel, being quarantined in centralized quarantine station and presence of symptoms were the significant factors associated with COVID-19 infection in SMα COVID-19 cluster with an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of 381.19 (95%CI: 33.66, 1987.22; p<0.001), 85.63 (95%CI: 44.21, 251.73; p=0.003), 101.25 (95%CI: 42.31, 301.22; p<0.001), 57.61 (95%CI: 24.52, 198.71; p<0.001), and 56.92 (95%CI: 15.73, 73.85; p<0.001), respectively Conclusion: Emphasis should be given to the identified risk factors for COVID-19 infection to facilitate timely detection of cases and avert COVID-19 transmission in community. Keywords: COVID-19, school, associated factors, Terengganu, Malaysia.