KUCHING, Feb 15: Two new cases of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) have been detected in the country, said the Health Ministry today.
The latest cases involved a 27-year-old Chinese businessman and 32-year-old Chinese woman who is married to a Malaysian.
“The 20th case involved a Chinese man who came to Malaysia on a business trip on Feb 1. The businessman had visited Thailand on Feb 12 before returning to Malaysia the following day.
“The businessman had fever detected by the thermal scanner while going through the Malaysia-Thailand border by land and was referred to the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital, Alor Setar, the same day (Feb 13).
“The detection tests for Covid-19 was performed on the businessman and was confirmed positive on Feb 14,” Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement.
As for the 21st case, he revealed that the Chinese women, who resides in the country, went to China on Jan 22-30 to visit her family members.
The woman recently developed symptoms of sore throat and was referred to the hospital for further treatment. Initial tests for Covid-19 was performed on her and the results confirmed that she has been infected on Feb 14.
Noor Hisham added the patient was admitted to Sultanah Maliha Hospital, Langkawi, for treatment and observation.
With the two new cases reported today, he said the cumulative cases has risen to 21, which involved 11 cases of patient-under-investigation (PUI), eight cases of close-contacts and two cases among Malaysian, which was brought home from the Humanitarian Mission to bring back Malaysian from China early this month.
Out of that total number of people, 15 involved Chinese nationals and six were Malaysian.
On another note, the ministry said seven patients have been cured and discharged. It was still identifying close contact activities for positive Covid-19 cases.
It disclosed that approximately 282 close contact cases were identified, which was expected to increase until the identification process is finalised. From that amount, approximately 197 close contact cases involved Malaysian, 54 Chinese nationals and 31 from other countries.
The ministry said all the close contact cases were, identified in which samples were taken and kept under tight observation.
It pointed out that the ministry will continue to monitor the latest updates for Covid-19 through information provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“The public will be kept informed about the latest information on Covid-19. The ministry said it will continue to ensure that prevention and control measures are being carried out to prevent the disease in the country,” Noor Hisham said. — DayakDaily
