PUTRAJAYA, May 21 ― The Health Ministry (MOH) has conducted screening on 30 family members of the pregnant woman tested Covid-19 positive, after returning to Kelantan recently.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said of the total, 20 of the family members were tested negative while the results of 10 others are pending.
“We will conduct screening on the close contacts to determine if she had been infected at the destination point or the place of origin in Ampang,” he told a daily press conference here today.
Yesterday, MOH confirmed that a 35-week pregnant woman was found to be Covid-19 positive after undergoing a routine checkup at a women and children’s health clinic in Kuala Krai, Kelantan.
Meanwhile asked why Malaysia was not given the Remdisivir subsidy price, he said, as Malaysia is a developing country, it was excluded from the medicines voluntary licences.
He added that at the moment Malaysia is able to have access to Remsidivir under the solidarity clinical trial launched by World Health Organisation (WHO), to help find an effective treatment for Covid-19.
“We have recruited 12 patients for the Remsidivir clinical trial. So far 93 patients have enrolled under the solidarity trial and 12 of them have been given Remsidivir. Whether this drug is effective or not, we have to look into other means to access to the drug…. not the voluntary licence but other means,” he said.
In another development, Dr Noor Hisham announced the winners of the Hari Raya card contest for schoolchildren, organised by the MoH during the movement control order period.
The contest themed Sihat di Hari Lebaran and which ran from May 2 to 18, attracted 270 entries.
Uzma Arissya Umar, aged 12, from Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Taman Indah Pura 1, Kulai, Johor. won first prize.
The second prize went to Amni Fatiha Mohd Hazri, nine, from SK Intan Perdana, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan while Muhammad Arif Khairuddin, 12, from SK Kem Lapangan Terbang, Sg Petani, Kedah came third.
The top three winners each received RM100 cash, while 17 consolation prize winners received hampers.
Participants were required to include a health slogan in the Hari Raya cards. ― Bernama
