PUTRAJAYA, Feb 5 — Two Malaysians have been confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) after being brought home via a humanitarian mission from Wuhan, China — leaving a total number of Malaysian infected to be three so far.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad told a press conference today that the two — a father and son duo — have been warded at the Tuanku Jaafar Hospital in Seremban and are in stable condition.

"Two of the cases we detected yesterday were among the 107 Malaysians brought home from Wuhan through a humanitarian mission. The father is 45 years old and his son is nine years old. The other child and the mother are not infected.

"However, the father and son did not show any symptoms, but they were positive when tested for the 2019-nCoV.

"There were another two who showed symptoms but tested negative. The two who have been tested negative are being observed at Kuala Lumpur Hospital,” said Dzulkefly.

Currently there are a total of 12 2019-nCoV cases in the country. Three are Malaysians and nine are Chinese citizens.

The minister also said the government has added more testing capacity to supplement Hospital Sungai Buloh and brought on 12 more hospital laboratories and four public health facilities to aid in testing for the 2019-nCoV.

Private laboratories have also expressed interest in assisting the government’s efforts to contain the virus and will be trained by specialists from Hospital Sungai Buloh, he said.

Commenting on the first local infection, the minister said 74 people who had been in close contact with the man have been identified and 35 successfully located.

The 35 have been placed under home surveillance and had samples taken for testing. Of these, 26 were negative for 2019-nCoV and nine remain under observation.

However, he said the negative results were only tentative due to the incubation period, and the group must remain in quarantine for 14 days.

Dzulkely also disclosed that the government has contacted the Chinese embassy here to arrange for the repatriation of the Chinese national who was successfully cured of the 2019-nCoV infection in Langkawi, Kedah.

When asked if the case indicated a cure has been found for the virus, the minister explained that doctors only used supportive treatment for the child as there was still no known cure for 2019-nCoV.

He also pointed out that supportive treatment has resulted in hundreds of recoveries in China.