The Defence Ministry today confirmed that 98 crew members of the Navy's ship KD Mahawangsa, were tested positive for Covid-19.
Its minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the crew had taken the RTK Antigen test before boarding the ship but were confirmed positive after a few days on the ship.
“So far, they were not showing any symptoms, but we have isolated them and placed them under quarantine.
“InsyaAllah, after 10 days (of quarantine), they will take the PCR test, and if the results come back negative, then they will be allowed to disembark,” he told a press conference after visiting the drive-through vaccination centre at the Sungai Besimilitary camp today.
Also present were Health Minister Dr Adham Baba and Defence Force chief General Affendi Buang.
Ismail Sabri said the ministry had yet to ascertain how the crew of the ship were infected with the coronavirus.
“As we know, Covid-19 is in the community. These crew members must have been infected before they boarded the ship, probably when they were at home or while buying groceries at a supermarket,” he added.
Meanwhile, the senior minister said he was in the midst of discussing with the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee the possibility to allow the Defence Ministry to get the vaccine supply directly from Pharmaniaga Berhad, which is responsible for bottling the Sinovac vaccine.
He said by doing so, the herd immunity for military personnel and civil servants under the ministry, as well as their families, could be achieved faster.
“Overall, we have 500,000 personnel including their families and we target 200,000 to be vaccinated per month to enable us to achieve herd immunity within three months,” he added.
- Bernama
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