Covid-19: Seven test positive in random tests under S'gor govt initiative

KLANG: Seven people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Selangor during random tests being carried out by Selgate Healthcare, a unit of Selangor State Development Corp (PKNS).

Selgate chief executive officer Dr Muaz Omar said the seven were amongst 3,408 people randomly tested in several locations.

“Five of them are from Hulu Langat, one from Shah Alam and one from Klang," said Dr Muaz when contacted.

He added that the state was actively conducting the tests to weed out positive cases from local communities in Selangor.

“We are targeting to test about 5,000 people throughout the entire exercise," said Dr Muaz, adding that screening has been carried out in Hulu Selangor, Puchong, Shah Alam, Klang, Sepang and Gombak since the exercise began in the middle of this month.

He said the team of healthcare workers on duty for the tests zeroed in on high-risk groups such as those above 60-years-old, as well as those who had noticeable symptoms such as fever, cough and flu.

According to Dr Muaz, once a positive case was identified, the district health office is immediately informed and the person is isolated and sent for treatment.

Selangor Mentri Besar Amirudin Shari had announced that as part of the state's Covid-19 economic stimulus package earlier this month, an allocation of RM1.35mil would go towards screening tests in hotspots and red zones.

Dr Muaz said the healthcare workers involved in the exercise, faced their own set of challenges mainly because of the hot weather.

“Dressed in personal protective equipment (PPE), several of them suffered heatstroke and had to be doused with water to be cooled off," said Dr Muaz.

Meanwhile, Selangor Task Force for Covid-19 (STFC) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the high-risk areas where the screenings are being conducted had been clearly mapped out.

“This is community testing with a targeted approach," he said.

Dr Dzulkefly added that the test kits used were the real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests approved by the Health Ministry, which cost the state some RM1.6mil for about 5,000 samplings.