KUALA LUMPUR: The recently concluded 16th Sabah state election appears to have triggered new Covid-19 infections among those involved in the election campaigns, with at least a minister and four assemblymen confirmed to be positive as of Tuesday (Oct 6).
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri (pic) tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday (Oct 5), triggering self-quarantines for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and several others, including ministers, who attended a meeting together on Saturday (Oct 3).
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah and Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri were not spared from the self-quarantine order as well, as they were present during the Oct 3 meeting at the Prime Minister’s department.
Others present during the meeting included Senior Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Senior Education Minister Dr Radzi Jidin, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, and Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador.
Meanwhile, the assemblymen who were confirmed Covid-19 positive were Ayer Limau assemblyman Datuk Amiruddin Yusof, Kota Damansara assemblyman Shatiri Mansor, and Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lim Yi Wei.
During the campaign period, which commenced from Sept 12 to Sept 25, a number of leaders such as Umno information chief Shahril Sufian Hamdan, Razlan Rafii, Barisan Nasional’s candidate for Pitas Sufian Abdul Karim as well as newly-elected Sindumin assemblyman Datuk Dr Yusof Yacob were also confirmed to be positive of Covid-19.
Kedah Agriculture and Food Industry, Agriculture Entrepreneurship and Commodity, Transport and Indian Community Affairs Committee chairman Azman Nasrudin, who is the Lunas assemblyman, also tested positive for Covid-19.
Covid-19 figures are expected to increase in the coming days as more individuals, including politicians, media personnel and others involved in the campaigns for the Sabah state election, which ended on Sept 26, will have their respective test results soon.
On Monday (Oct 5), the Covid-19 situation saw signs of escalating as the figure had breached the 400 mark for the first time with 432 confirmed cases.
