PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has confirmed its first sporadic case of Covid-19, where the infected person neither travelled to affected areas nor had contact with infected persons.
UPDATE > Sporadic no more: Source of Covid-19 infection traced to religious event
The occurrence of a sporadic case is an indication that the disease has spread into the community.
The Health Ministry said that the case was detected after a total of 600 samples, 138 for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARI) and 462 for influenza-like-illness (ILI) were tested until Wednesday (March 11).
"The Health Ministry is conducting Covid-19 surveillance to detect sporadic and local cases in Malaysia through patients with ILI and SARI with no history of travelling to affected countries of contacts with confirmed Covid-19 cases.
"As of March 1, a total of 600 samples were tested and one sample was found to be positive for Covid-19," said director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pic) in a statement on Wednesday.
He said investigations are ongoing to identify the source of this sporadic case.
He also advised Malaysians against travelling to countries affected by Covid-19.
Malaysians with respiratory tract infection symptoms should also not visit or travel to other parts of Malaysia during the upcoming school break, he said.
"If unwell with respiratory tract infection symptoms, do not attend events or programmes involving the public or in crowded public places, including religious activities.
"Those with symptoms are advised to distance themselves at least one metre away from other individuals," he said.
Malaysia currently has a total tally of 149 confirmed Covid-19 patients, with 26 of them recovered and discharged.
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