KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 — Federal ministers are being screened for Covid-19 after ministers Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and Datuk Seri Rina Harun tested positive for the virus. 

A government official who spoke on condition of anonymity told Malay Mail that swab tests have started in Putrajaya.

"Yes. Yes. It is confirmed. It is happening now in Putrajaya,” the official said when contacted without disclosing who or how many ministers were involved.

An aide to Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin also told Malay Mail when contacted that Cabinet and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Supreme Council members have been told to undergo swab tests following Mustapa’s positive test result.

Mustapa, who is minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of economic affairs, tested positive for Covid-19 during a screening after arriving in Kota Baru, Kelantan from Kuala Lumpur two days ago.

His office issued a statement saying he has since been admitted to Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II in Kota Baru.

Another government source confirmed to Malay Mail that he attended a recent Cabinet meeting before testing positive for the infection.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah told Malay Mail yesterday that contact tracing for Mustapa is already underway.

Mustapa is the second Cabinet member to have contracted Covid-19, now followed by Rina. 

Last October, Islamic Affairs Minister Datuk Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri tested positive Covid-19, which required several other ministers including the prime minister to be quarantined as they had been at a special Cabinet meeting together.