Cheras apartment infections could have been caused by Raya visits

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

PUTRAJAYA: Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah says the cause of the Covid-19 infections in the Cheras apartment cluster could be related to Hari Raya visitations.

While the source of infection is still being probed, he said it was highly possible that it was linked to visitations prior to and during the festive season.

Six cases, all involving Malaysians, have been linked to the cluster.

Noor Hisham said the first case was a tahfiz school student detected in screening initiatives by the health ministry and Jakim.

“However, based on our investigations, none of the students, teachers or staff from the particular tahfiz centre had attended the Sri Petaling tabligh gathering,” he said at his daily press conference today.

The six cases involved three residents and three others who were detected outside the apartment area. The other patients are relatives and friends of the first case.

Noor Hisham said 120 people have been identified and screened, with 76 of them testing negative and 38 others awaiting their test results.

He said no positive cases were detected from other apartments in the vicinity, while case detection measures are ongoing.

Although Aidilfitri is usually celebrated over a month, he urged Malaysians to avoid house visitations during the conditional movement control order (CMCO) period

He said usual celebrations such as open houses and mass gatherings are still not allowed, and reiterated that the chain of infection can be broken if everyone were to comply with the ministry’s SOPs. - FMT