The Health Minister, Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad, has confirmed the first case of a Malaysian testing positive for the Wuhan novel coronavirus. According to the minister, the man was travelling to Singapore from the 16th of January till the 23rd January for a meeting, which included delegates from China and other countries. The man then returned to Malaysia on the 23rd of January.
“On January 29, he received treatment at a private hospital because of fever and cough. Then, he was referred to the Sungai Buloh Hospital on February 2, and was admitted to the isolation ward. He was confirmed for the 2019-nCoV yesterday.”
At the moment, the 41-year-old patient is in stable condition, while the authorities have also begun working with their Singaporean counterparts to track who the patient may have come into contact with.
Meanwhile, a second case was also confirmed by the minister, with a 63-year old Chinese national from Wuhan landing at KLIA on the 18th of January.
Based on information from the Ministry of Health, Singapore currently has 18 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with Malaysia having 8 cases of confirmed infections prior to today’s news. Now, Malaysia has a total of 10 cases of the Wuhan novel coronavirus, with only 1 Malaysian being infected thus far (the rest are Chinese nationals).
Should we wear face masks, then?
This could mean that it would be wise to wear face masks as a preventive measure. Previously, experts have said that face masks are not necessary in Malaysia at the moment, because we have yet to encounter human-to-human transmissions. However, the first Malaysian infection has now occurred, although it appears that the virus was transmitted in Singapore.
Still, with 213 patients under investigation (PUI) being screened from the 10th of January till the 3rd of February including 122 Malaysians, 20 patients are still awaiting lab results. Perhaps it’s better to be safe than sorry, then. For all of the latest coverage on the outbreak, click here.
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