1 Utama mall says infected guards were outsourced, got Covid-19 outside

 

The 1 Utama shopping centre management has disputed the Petaling District Disaster Management Committee's (JBPD) figures that put the number of Covid-19 cases linked to the shopping centre at 63. This later increased to 105.

The management said this is because 44 of its guards which tested positive for Covid-19 were outsourced from a third-party provider and they were not infected within the mall.

"We would like to hereby state that the 44 Covid-19 positive cases of security guards mentioned in Petaling JBPD's report did not originate from 1 Utama and was not part of the 6,000 mass testings that we conducted.

"They are in fact outsourced contract guards from a third-party service provider when Covid-19 was contracted through a dormitory and not within our premises," said 1 Utama.

The management said from the 6,000 staff who were screened, the test results as of Oct 14 identified 20 tenant staff and one mall management personnel as positive for Covid-19.

Those 21 persons were quarantined by the Health Ministry, the mall added.

Since yesterday's figure of 63 was published, the Petaling JBPD has said in an update that the number of cases has grown to 105 as of this morning.

In a Facebook post, it said the number of those infected, which was at 63 cases at noon yesterday, has now increased to 105.

"There is a rise in the Utama cluster cases that were reported yesterday with 79 security personnel, 18 cleaners, and eight tenants - one from C&C Cookies, one from Daiso, and six from Teh Tarik Place.

"All cases in the Utama cluster are not Malaysian citizens, with the exception of the worker at Daiso," said the Petaling JBPD.

Malaysiakini is seeking an explanation from the Health Ministry over this matter. - Mkini