UiTM student residential colleges shut for 10 days due to Covid-19

 

Several student residential colleges at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Lendu in Alor Gajah, Malacca have been ordered to close for 10 days beginning today after a student was found to be Covid-19 positive in preliminary screening.

State Health director Dr Rusdi Abd Rahman said the closure notice was issued under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 after the detection of the positive case and eight symptomatic students.

"The Alor Gajah District Health Office (PKD) was notified by the UiTM Clinic at 2pm on Tuesday that the student was found Covid-19 positive through Rapid Test Kit-Antigen (RTK-Ag) screening while eight others had upper respiratory tract symptoms (URTI).

"All of them have undergone Covid-19 (PCR) tests and the results are expected soon,” he said in a statement today.

Rusdi said they were among at least 45 students from various branches of the university who had attended a leadership programme which was organised by an NGO at a resort in Alor Gajah from Nov 3 to 7.

He said students who were close contacts of the suspected Covid-19 cases were being traced for isolation as an early measure to check the spread of the virus.

"The state Health Department views this matter seriously and further investigations are being conducted. Members of the public who were their close contacts should undergo self-isolation and contact the Alor Gajah PKD operations room at 06-5566390 for immediate health screening.

"I urge the public to refer to official statements by the Health Ministry and state Health Department for authentic information; any enquiries can be directed to the Malacca Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) at 06-2345999 or email at cprcmelaka@moh.gov.my," he added.

Earlier, there was a viral social media posting on seven students of the university who allegedly tested positive after returning from a programme organised by a political party on Nov 4 to 7.

- Bernama