Most Selangor cases are asymptomatic

KLANG: More than 1,000 people have tested positive for Covid-19 since the Selangor government initiated a community screening on May 8.

Some 20,000 people had turned up for the community screening which was offered free of charge by the Selangor government.

So far screening has been conducted in 16 out of Selangor’s 56 state constituencies by Selcare, which is the administrator of the state administration’s healthcare programme Skim Peduli Sihat.

Selcare manager Mohd Noor Md Nasir said most of those who tested positive were asymptomatic and were physically healthy.

“There was no indication they were infected and most of them came for screening due to close contact with someone else who had tested positive or were just curious about their status, ’’ said Mohd Noor.

He noted had they not been tested and found to be positive, most of them would have been walking around infecting others.

Izzah Atthira Mat Zaid, who tested positive earlier this month, is one of those undergoing home quarantine at her family condominium unit in Semenyih.

The 26-year-old, who lives with her parents and younger sister, said she confined herself to her room and food is left outside the door daily by her mother.

Izzah Atthira said she was infected at her workplace and would not have known she was Covid-19-positive if her company had not sent her to be tested.

Mohd Noor noted the number of positive cases rose drastically after the Hari Raya Aidilfitri holidays.

“Maybe these people had been visiting on the sly or could have contracted the virus at Ramadan or Hari Raya bazaars, ’’ he said.

Selangor Task Force for Covid-19 chairman Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad had said previously that the mass screening was in line with the World Health Organisation’s recommended Find, Test, Trace, Isolate and Support (FTTIS) system.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Society of Infectious Diseases and Chemotherapy president Prof Dr Zamberi Sekawi said more people should be quarantined at home to prevent overcrowding at centres.

This includes the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS), which is being used as the Covid-19 Integrated Quarantine and Treatment Centre (PKRC).

“Home quarantine is best for those who are asymptomatic and have suitable living conditions to isolate in their bedroom, ” he said.