Father and son on Wuhan flight tested positive for coronavirus

Evacuated Malaysian nationals from Wuhan, China are directed onto a bus by health officials in protective suits after arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, Febr 4,2020. - Health Ministry/Reuters

PUTRAJAYA: Two Malaysians who returned from Wuhan, China, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the two, a 45-year-old and his nine-year-old son, were among the 107 people on board a special flight to bring Malaysians back from Wuhan.

This brings the tally of positive 2019-nCoV cases in the country to 12. Of the 12, nine are China nationals and three are Malaysians.

“The two did not show any symptoms when they were screened at the Air Disaster Unit (ADU) after the plane landed in the country on Tuesday (Feb 4).

“They were brought to the home surveillance centre to be quarantined for 14 days. Their tests returned and showed they were positive for the coronavirus, ” said Dr Dzulkefly at a press conference here.

The two are currently being treated at the isolation ward in Hospital Tuanku Ja’afar in Seremban and are in a stable condition.

Two other family members who also travelled together in the Wuhan flight – the man’s wife and another child – tested negative.

Meanwhile, two other Malaysians on the Wuhan flight who were symptomatic and sent to the isolation ward at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital on Tuesday (Feb 4) tested negative for the coronavirus.