KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 — Two shopping malls located in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya and Setia Alam, Shah Alam in Selangor have confirmed that one Covid-19 case each related to their tenants has been detected.

The affected shopping malls are 1 Utama Shopping Centre and Setia City Mall.

In a Facebook post, Parkson today said it has received confirmation from Estee Lauder that one of its beauty advisors which worked at Parkson’s Cosmetics & Fragrance Department on the ground floor of Parkson Elite at the 1 Utama mall tested positive yesterday for Covid-19.

"We had proceeded to close our Parkson Elite 1 Utama store for a thorough cleansing and sanitisation exercise in accordance with the procedures issued by the Health Ministry (MOH).

"Our store will remain temporarily closed today to mitigate the risk of infection and reopens tomorrow with a fresh new team,” it said.

Parkson also said its Parkson Elite 1 Utama staff will undergo Covid-19 testing as well as 14 days of self-quarantine, adding that it is working closely with 1 Utama’s management teams and the MOH to carry out contact tracing.

Separately, 1 Utama in a Facebook post confirmed that it is currently working with Parkson following confirmation of the Estee Lauder staff’s positive test results, adding that swift action had been taken by Parkson with sanitisation, self-quarantine and Covid-19 screenings.

"We wish to point out that the affected staff’s access to Parkson was via Parkson’s dedicated staff entrance/exit which is not open to the public.

"Rest assured our entire mall building has also been disinfected, with 1 Utama frontliners working very hard throughout all hours of the day to keep the mall clean and to step up every way we can,” it said.

Separately, Setia City Mall today in a Facebook post said that it has been informed by its retail partner Fitness First that a gym member had self-declared as a Covid-19 positive case.

"The Fitness First team on duty have undergone the Covid test and will observe a 14-day self-quarantine. Our partner has also put together another team so that they can continue to serve their members. 

"As part of our focus on health and safety, both Fitness First and the mall have immediately commissioned specialist deep cleaning last night, in addition to our frequent and diligent cleaning and disinfection procedures,” the mall said, adding that it is in close contact with the MOH and other authorities and will be keeping customers informed of any updates.

In comments on its Facebook page in response to a Facebook user’s query, Fitness First Malaysia confirmed it had sent out an email notice yesterday to its members to notify them of a member who had trained at its Setia City Mall outlet within the last six days, and subsequently, tested positive for Covid-19.

In the email notice, Fitness First Malaysia said the member had last visited the club from 8pm on October 2 and had not displayed any symptoms at that time, adding that the member was called for a Covid-19 test on October 7 and thereafter tested positive.

Fitness First Malaysia also confirmed that this member had not visited any of its other clubs apart from the Setia City Mall outlet, further highlighting that all its clubs are cleaned and sanitised seven times a day while members are expected to wipe down equipment both before and after use.

"We will however complete a precautionary disinfection and sanitisation exercise at our premises tonight and as advised by the MOH, all staff who were working during the time in question have been home quarantined, sent for testing and will be awaiting results. We will keep you updated accordingly,” it had said in the email notice.

In its Facebook comments, Fitness First Malaysia also said it had carried out a first round of cleaning and sanitisation of its Setia City Mall outlet yesterday and will be carrying out another round of sanitisation today, before reopening tomorrow.

These two malls are the latest to have confirmed that Covid-19 cases were detected among those who had been to its premises.

There has recently been a number of malls in the Klang Valley with such reported cases, but with such malls subsequently reopening after carrying out sanitisation exercises.