Uncollected corpses at Seremban mortuary mere 'rumour', says exco member

SEREMBAN: A state exco has rubbished talk that more than 40 remains of Covid-19 victims have remained uncollected at the Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital (TJH) mortuary.

State non-Muslim affairs committee chairman, J. Arul Kumar, said a viral message claiming that the remains of those the Indian community have not been collected for the final rites by their families.

"I have spoken with the TJH director, and was told that this is not true.

"I was told that the remains of all Covid-19 victims from the community have been claimed by their families," he said in a post.

Arul Kumar, who is also state human resources and plantations committee chairman, expressed hope that the people would stop making up such stories.

"This is a sensitive matter. Please stop spreading lies," he said.

On a separate matter, Arul Kumar said non-Muslim places of worship in the state are now allowed to reopen.

However, the number of worshippers must not exceed 50 at any one time.

"Also, only those who have been fully vaccinated will be allowed to enter these premises. This means those taking the Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca and CoronaVac (Sinovac) vaccines will only be allowed entry no earlier than 14 days after their second dose.

Recipients of single-dose vaccines like Janssen by Johnson & Johnson, and CanSino, are allowed to do so no earlier than 28 days after getting their shots.

"They must also wear masks, maintain physical distancing, and return to their homes immediately after the prayer sessions," he said.

Worshippers will also be required to show their digital vaccination certificate to the personnel on duty before they enter the premises, which can only hold prayer sessions from 6am to 2pm, and 4pm to 10pm.