Dr Noor Hisham: No other Covid-19 case yet from post-Cabinet meeting that led to PM being quarantined
by BY JULIA CHANKUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — The government officer, who tested positive for Covid-19 after attending a recent post-Cabinet meeting, is recovering well and still shows no other symptoms of the disease, aside from lethargy, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
He reiterated that no other positive cases were detected from among the meeting’s attendees.
“All participants of the post-Cabinet meeting have been found to be Covid-19 negative. The person identified with Covid-19 is being taken care of. He is asymptomatic and responding well.
“His symptoms were very vague. Only lethargy, no cough or flu, and he had a normal temperature,” he said.
Last week, 35 government officers, including the prime minister, who attended the recent post-Cabinet meeting were all tested for Covid-19 after one of the attendees was found to be positive.
Subsequently, all were ordered to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine as part of the Health Ministry’s standard operating procedure (SOP).
Meanwhile, on the surge of cases in the country due to new clusters at three immigration depots, Dr Noor Hisham said that the original source of the infection could not be identified.
“We cannot pinpoint the source of the infection from the three detention centres. We have a theory but we cannot pinpoint it. But what is important is that we managed to isolate the individuals and their close contacts.
“So we did our best in terms of case detection. We also want to learn from this and prevent it from happening at other centres,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said that, in the long term, employers would have to look into better worker accommodation, which, at the moment, is usually a confined space that makes it a breeding ground for infections.
“This is not just for Covid-19 but any infectious diseases that will continue to spread in confined spaces. We need a long-term solution for our foreign workers. We have to re-look at the current norm for a better future,” he said.
