PUTRAJAYA, May 23 — Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today said that 35 government officers, including the prime minister, who attended the recent post-Cabinet meeting in which an attendee tested positive for Covid-19 have all tested negative for the virus.
He said the officer who had tested positive for Covid-19, is currently in isolation and receiving treatment.
“We are already conducting active contact tracing with the main focus being on the officer’s family members,” Dr Noor Hisham said during his daily Covid-19 press briefing.
Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah added that 35 other officers who also attended the same meeting have been screened, swabbed and tested.
“All 35 have tested as negative, but they will have to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine as part of the standard operating procedures (SOP),” he said.
The director-general credited the existing SOPs in place for government officials, which helped to detect the positive case.
“One of the requirements for officers attending meetings is for samples to be taken and tests to be conducted. This enabled us to detect the Covid-19 positive officer.
“Similarly, in the past few months, government meetings have been conducted with a minimum of one-metre spacing and officers having to wash their hands before coming into the meeting room. Effort is also taken to hold the meetings in non-confined spaces,” Dr Noor Hisham said.
Earlier today, it was reported that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will undergo the two-week quarantine after his test results came back as negative.
Similarly, the Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Seri Mohd Zuki Ali who was in attendance will also undergo quarantine. Fellow attendee and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Datuk Seri Azam Baki’ results are still being processed, but he will also have to undergo quarantine.
