KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 138 staff from the Health Ministry (MoH) have tested positive for Covid-19 as of April 2.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah however stressed that investigations have revealed that none of them were infected during the course of their duty.
“Based on investigations, none of the infections were linked to their duties and treatment of Covid-19 positive patients at wards or intensive care units at Ministry of Health (MoH) facilities,” he said.
Among the sources of the infection were contact with individuals from the Sri Petaling tabligh gathering and infections transmitted through family, friends and overseas travel.
The majority of the cases, 58 of them, were linked to a wedding which also saw the presence of an individual who had contact with and attended the Sri Petaling tabligh gathering last month.
Another 14 cases included patients with either severe acute respiratory infection or those with mild symptoms who didn’t know or did not acknowledge their status.
Two cases from this group had also attended the Sri Petaling gathering but did not relay that information.
Nine individuals contracted the virus from their family members who were Covid-19 positive, six had a travel history overseas while four got it from friends who were Covid-19 positive.
There are 42 cases among these 138 MOH staff which are still under investigation.
Dr Noor Hisham reiterated that all medical frontliners, whether based in MOH facilities, in the private sector or from NGOs must wear masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) based on their needs and risk and practice social distancing as well as hand washing during clinical procedures.
“People who come for treatment must also provide honest and accurate details of their activities, contacts and travel history,” he said.
As of today, there are 3,333 Covid-19 positive cases in the country.