18th person diagnosed with novel coronavirus in Malaysia

A pedestrian wearing a face mask walks along a street in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. Just a couple of weeks ago, scientists held out hope the new coronavirus could be largely contained within China. Now they know its spread can be minimized at best, and governments are planning for the worst. Photographer: Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg

PETALING JAYA: A Malaysian man who had visited mainland China before returning home in February is the latest person to be diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, said the Health Ministry.

He is the 18th person to be diagnosed with the virus (2019-nCoV), which originated from Wuhan, China.

Its director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, in a statement on Monday (Feb 10), said that the 31-year-old man who was working in Macau was unwell and started coughing on Feb 3.

"He had sought treatment at a clinic on Feb 4 and 6, where he was given medication.

Dr Noor Hisham said however that on Feb 7, the man still hadn’t recovered and sought treatment at a Klinik Kesihatan where he was then referred to Hospital Banting for a follow-up.

"Checks on him found that he was suffering from pneumonia and he was admitted into the hospital.

"Further checks found that the was suffering from Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), requiring intensive monitoring.

"He was then referred to the Sungai Buloh Hospital, where he was certified positive for 2019-nCoV on Sunday (Feb 9)," he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said that the Selangor Health Department and the Kuala Langat Health office have been directed to take further action by tracing the man’s movements.

“I would like to advise the residents of Banting to keep calm. The ministry has taken all the necessary action and will inform of the latest updates from time to time,” he said. - Star