KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — A Malaysian man has tested positive for the Wuhan virus, the first local to date, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad at a press conference today.
Dzulkefly said the man travelled to Singapore from January 16 to 23 to attend a meeting which had several foreign delegates, including from China.
“He returned to Malaysia on January 23, and on January 29, he received treatment at a private hospital because of fever and cough.
“Then, he was referred to the Sungai Buloh Hospital on February 2, and was admitted to the isolation ward. He was confirmed for the 2019-nCoV yesterday,” Dzulkefly said.
He said the 41-year-old patient was stable, and the Health Ministry has contacted its Singaporean counterpart, which confirmed that it has begun tracing those who had been in contact with him.
The minister also disclosed another confirmed infection, a 63-year-old Chinese national from Wuhan who landed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on January 18.
Dzulkefly said he initially had light fever and received outpatient treatment at a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur.
His case was flagged to the ministry, which then sequestered him at his home for a two-week observation period.
“On February 2, his fever continued and he was then admitted to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) for further treatment. The lab test result showed him to be positive for 2019-nCov on February 3.
“The patient is currently in the isolation ward and is in stable condition,” Dzulkefly added.
The two newest cases brings Malaysia’s total 2019-nCoV infections to 10, five of whom had been patients-under-investigation and the rest, those who had been in close contact.
Of the latter five, four are in Hospital Sungai Buloh and one is in Johor’s Hospital Permai.
Aside from the Malaysian, all the confirmed cases involve Chinese nationals.
The minister said 213 PUIs were screened between January 10 and the evening of February 3, involving 122 Malaysians, eight Chinese nationals, and one each from Australia, South Korea, Jordan, Brazil and Thailand.
Health authorities have cleared 188 while 20 PUIs are awaiting results of their laboratory tests.
Of the 36 individuals located through contact tracing, 27 were negative and four are pending test results.
