KUALA LUMPUR: Pasar Borong Kuala Lumpur has confirmed a total of 118 positive Covid-19 cases on Tuesday (Jan 19).
Kuala Lumpur Vegetable Wholesalers’ Association president Wong Keng Fatt said 31 workers from the vegetables section and 87 from the fish section were infected with the coronavirus.
"We hired a private laboratory to do the RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) test on the workers and the results were shared with three trader associations here.
"Workers from the fruit section were being tested starting yesterday and results will likely be ready by Thursday (Jan 21)," he told StarMetro on Tuesday (Jan 19).
Meanwhile, the fish section of the market was closed for disinfection since Monday (Jan 18) until Jan 21 and the section will resume its operations on Jan 22.
Wong added that a meeting among the associations, Health Ministry, National Security Council and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) would be held on Wednesday (Jan 20) to decide on whether the wholesale market should be closed.
"Prior to that, we had told our association members that we would close on Thursday so they could manage their imported supplies accordingly.
"Judging from the seriousness of the situation, the vegetables section is expected to be closed for several days for disinfection but a total lockdown is unlikely.
"We are still awaiting the remaining test results done on the vegetable and fruit sellers and workers," he said.
Mass testing was done since last weekend when more than 15 Covid-19 cases among fishmongers were detected last week.
Wong added that he hoped the government would give them at least two days to manage their supplies if they were to close for disinfection.
"Previously, whenever there was a closure, it was done abruptly and we had difficulties selling off existing supplies and halting imported orders.
"For imported orders from Thailand, we need time to alert our suppliers," he said, adding that he hoped the same thing would not happen again.
Kuala Lumpur Hoi Seong Fish Wholesaler Association chairman Sing Kian Hock could not be reached for comment.
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