KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 — No new Covid-19 cluster surrounding hair salons or their clients has emerged in the Klang Valley or elsewhere to date despite the recent confirmation that a barber in Setapak had contracted the coronavirus, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.
The Health director-general was responding to a question about a Pakistani barber based in Setapak who violated the first phase of the movement control order from March 18 to June 9 and made house calls after getting requests for haircuts.
The Health director-general said that 40 people were initially identified as close contacts of the ill barber and screened 31 as the rest “did not fit the requirement, or received service or classified as close contact.
“So the number of those screened was 31 people, though in the initial stage, we identified 40. However, those with links are only 31 people and we have conducted tests whereby 29 tested negative, and we are awaiting the results of two more people.
“So to date, we do not have a haircut cluster. Only one positive case,” Dr Noor Hisham said in his daily Covid-19 briefing.
“There are 25 close contacts based on his mobile phone records. Out of that, four have been identified as his housemates, while 21 others are his clients,” he added.
News that the Setapak barber had contracted Covid-19 came two days after the government allowed hair and beauty salons to reopen.
Dr Noor Hisham said the affected barbershop reopened on June 10 and the employer had sent the barber for a Covid-19 test at a private hospital.
