Three more Covid-19 positive cases in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Three more Covid-19 (novel coronavirus) cases have been identified in Malaysia, bringing the total number to 22.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said two cases involved Chinese nationals – a 27-year-old businessman and a 32-year-old woman who is married to a Malaysian, while the third involved an 83-year-old American female.

The man was found to have fever at the Bukit Kayu Hitam border checkpoint on Thursday and was referred to Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah in Alor Setar the same day.

He had arrived in Malaysia on Feb 1 for business and on Feb 12 he went to Thailand and returned to Malaysia the following day.

Test results on Feb 14 showed that he was Covid-19 positive.

The woman, who has been living in Malaysia, was in China from Jan 22 to 30 to visit family members.

On Feb 13, she had a sore throat and was referred to a hospital for further checks.

She was screened for Covid-19 and was confirmed positive the following day.

Subsequently, she was admitted to Hospital Sultanah Maliha in Langkawi, Kedah, for treatment and monitoring.

The American female was a passenger of a cruise ship that docked in Cambodia on Feb 13.

Following this, 145 passengers from the ship flew to Malaysia on Feb 14.

The woman and her husband were picked up by thermal scanners at KLIA, and referred to the Hospital Sungai Buloh for detailed screening, which then found the woman positive yesterday.

The woman is in stable condition and in isolation while her husband, also an American, who tested negative, is placed under observation at the same hospital.

From the 22 confirmed Covid-19 cases, 15 are Chinese nationals, one American and six are Malaysians.

As at 4pm yesterday, there were 67,088 confirmed cases globally, according to Corona Tracker.

As many as 8,283 people have recovered while 1,526 deaths were reported.