KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah will continue updating Malaysians on the Covid-19 situation in the country, directly from his residence, where he is currently observing self-quarantine, after being exposed to a Covid-19 positive Cabinet minister.
“We are setting up and exploring the system. I have conducted my daily early morning meeting via video conferencing and now the regional WHO meeting,” he told Malay Mail when contacted.
His officer informed media members that the Health director-general would go ‘live’ on the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) Facebook page, alone, void of the usual media presence.
He is scheduled to go ‘live’ today at 5.30PM.
Dr Noor Hisham was one of the attendees of a high-level government meeting on October 3, which was also attended by a minister who tested positive for Covid-19.
In a statement yesterday, he said that all attendees of the meeting have been put under a 14-day home quarantine.
He also said the individual was asymptomatic but had been admitted and isolated in the hospital for treatment in accordance with existing protocols.
While Dr Noor Hisham did not specify any details regarding the individual and event, Religious Affairs Minister Datuk Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri yesterday admitted that he tested positive for Covid-19 minutes after the statement was issued.
Zulkifli’s Covid-19 diagnosis follows amid an exponential surge of Covid-19 cases nationwide over the past few days, with the country recording a new record-high of 432 cases yesterday.
It is believed the event was a special National Security Council meeting on Covid-19 chaired by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in Putrajaya.
Among those present in the meeting were Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob; Senior Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof; Senior Minister of Education Radzi Jidin; Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba and related ministers.
Also present were Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador.
Dr Noor Hisham also said all those who were in attendance during the meeting subsequently underwent a health screening yesterday, along with a sample taken from them for test purposes.
“Close contact tracing and investigations are ongoing, including screening and swab tests for any signs of Covid-19.
“All identified close contacts have been provided a 14-days Home Surveillance Order (HSO) from the last date of their exposure,” he said in a statement here.
* A previous version of this story contained an error in which Chief of Defence Force General Tan Sri Affendi Buang was mistakenly named at the meeting. The error has since been corrected.
