KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 — The Magetan regency government in East Java has stopped the repatriation of 38 Malaysian students from the Al Fatah Islamic boarding school in Temboro Village after they all tested positive for Covid-19, the Jakarta Post reported.
The report quoted the regency’s Covid-19 task force spokesman Saif Muchlissun as saying that 29 of the 38 tested positive during rapid testing on Monday while the others tested positive through earlier polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.
“The 29 Malaysian students have to stay here in the village because they have to wait for the PCR test results,” Saif was quoted as saying.
Saif said that the other nine students have to undergo medical treatment for 14 days at a nearby hospital.
The Jakarta Post reported that last week, the task force traced students who had been in contact with 43 of their peers who tested positive for Covid-19 upon returning to Malaysia.
The report said that the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta had planned to repatriate more than 150 Malaysian students who initially wanted to stay put and spend the fasting month in the village.
“Only 124 can leave Temboro as the others have tested positive for the disease,” Saif was quoted saying.
Apart from the Malaysians, another student from Thailand also tested positive for Covid-19.
The report stated that the Al Fatah Islamic boarding school houses more than 22,000 students, of whom 2,000 are foreigners mostly from the region.
The boarding school is reportedly also a base for the Jamaah Tabligh group, which has held events in Malaysia, India and South Sulawesi that have been linked to several Covid-19 cases in the respective regions.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported 94 new Covid-19 cases, with 72 of those were imported from Malaysians returning from Indonesia.
This makes new local cases at a new low record of just 22 cases, the lowest since the movement control order (MCO) was implemented.
This positive trend followed yesterday’s 31 new cases, which was the previous low record.
The last time daily new cases were below 30 was back in March 12, before the second wave of Covid-19 infection here.
The total number of Covid 19 cases now stands at 5,945 and 100 deaths, with no new deaths reported today.
