KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 — Covid-19 screening tests result of a former minister and deputy minister having been in close contact with the Covid-19 positive case No.26 were confirmed negative, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
Dr Noor Hisham said both individuals’ ‘Nasopharyngeal swab’ test results from Sungai Buloh Hospital were received at 3.30pm, today.
“We just received the full result of both high-profile individuals close contacts of Case 26 and we have confirmed that the final results for both are negative.
“Covid-19 real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), not detected by two types of real time RTPCR,” he said in his Facebook’s posting, today.
News has been circulating on social media since yesterday of a former minister and a former deputy minister having been in close contact with the Covid-19 positive case No. 26 and also having been in direct contact with other people, including media practitioners, raising concern that they may have to undergo health screening.
Earlier, a former minister said to have been exposed to a Covid-19 positive patient confirmed today that he has tested negative to the disease.
The ex-minister from Bersatu said he is under quarantine at home in compliance with the standard operating procedure in the management of Covid-19 by the Health Ministry.
“Screened alright, tested negative, but self-quarantined at home,” he said in a brief reply to Bernama over WhatsApp.
“I’m well, Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God),” the MP said.
— KKMPutrajaya (@KKMPutrajaya) March 2, 2020
Meanwhile, the ex-deputy minister, when responding to a WhatsApp message enquiring about his health, said he had undergone a health inspection at Sungai Buloh Hospital.
The ex-minister and ex-deputy minister are said to have attended an appreciation event for them at a hotel in the federal capital last Thursday that was also attended by a member of the UDA Holdings Berhad (UDA) board of directors who has since tested positive for Covid-19.
In a statement today, UDA announced that the individual is now under quarantine at a government hospital. — Bernama
