Barber who gave house-to-house haircuts during MCO contracts Covid-19

CORONAVIRUS | A barber who tested positive for Covid-19 was found to have given haircuts at client’s homes during the movement control order (MCO) despite a ban on the service.

The barber has since been hospitalised while 40 of his close contacts have been screened and instructed to undergo home quarantine.

Health Ministry Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah announced today that the patient was a Pakistani male who worked at a barbershop in Kuala Lumpur.

“Early investigations found that the barbershop had not been in operation since the MCO began on March 18. However, he continued to provide the service from house-to-house following requests from clients from the surrounding areas.

“Thus far, 25 close contacts have been identified from telephone records - four are the patient’s housemates and 21 were his clients,” Noor Hisham said during his daily Covid-19 briefing this evening.

When the barbershop reopened on June 10, the barber’s employer had taken him for Covid-19 screening as per government requirements.

“As of June 11, 15 more close contacts had received haircuts from him,” Noor Hisham added.

The source of infection remains under investigation.

Previously, the management of a mixed development project in Setapak informed condominium residents that a worker at a barbershop in the building had tested positive for the virus.

It assured that the shop and surrounding areas would be sanitised.

Noor Hisham Abdullah

As for Malaysians returning home from abroad, Noor Hisham advised them to adhere strictly to home quarantine guidelines to preventing infecting their kin.

“This means you come back and you confine yourself to the room. No moving and no getting (in) close contact with family members,” he said when asked about concerns about home transmission.

As for high-risk groups like the elderly, he advised them to stay away from those who recently returned as a precautionary measure.

“Our advice to the elderly is (to) stay a distance from them,” he said.

Beginning June 10, locals returning from overseas will no longer need to be placed under mandatory quarantine at government-designated centres.

Instead, those who screen negative for the virus at the airport will be instructed to wear quarantine wristbands and undergo a 14-day quarantine at home.

They will also be required to download the MySejahtera mobile phone application to allow the authorities to monitor their movements.

Those who violate home quarantine rules could face a compound up to RM1,000 or up to six months of jail or both under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988.  - Mkini