COVID-19 cases have been popping up at Klang Valley malls, netizens call for more control

So far, a total of 5 malls in Klang Valley have released statements regarding a COVID-19 case—including KLCC, The Linc KL, Sunway Pyramid, NU Sentral and KL Gateway Mall. As tweets like this made rounds, netizens have been calling for more control as the malls affected are also hubs for public transportation.

The Linc KL

On 24 September, The Linc KL posted a statement saying that a parent of a child at Trinity Kids—The Linc KL branch—has just been tested COVID-19 positive. The child was on a half-day program until noon and last attended school on Thursday, 17 September.

A few hours later on the same day, The Linc KL posted another statement (above) saying that all teachers at the school has tested negative for COVID-19. They have since resumed operations.

KL Gateway Mall

KL Gateway Mall first released a statement on 25 September reporting of a confirmed COVID-19 case in Menara Suezcap 1, which is an office tower. They then posted another statement on 27 September that the “confirmed case” was tested negative but the office will still remained closed until further notice.

Suria KLCC

In a statement released on 25 September by Babel Fit—a gym in KLCC—they announced that a member has tested positive for COVID-19 after multiple outstation trips to a high-risk zone including two Babel Fit gyms. The member visited Babel Fit in TTDI on 14 and 17 September, and the one in KLCC on 9, 10, 11 and 13 September.

On the 27 September, KLCC released a statement saying that all of the staff—as well as members who have been in close contact with the member who tested positive—have all tested negative for COVID-19. They were all also instructed to self-quarantine at home under the Home Surveillance Order as advised by the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Sunway Pyramid

Sunway Pyramid released a statement on 26 September about a COVID-19 case involving one staff member of the Nike outlet at first floor of mall. They have then released a couple additional statements on the 27 September.

One of them provided more information about the case, including that the management was made aware verbally by the Nike outlet about how one of their staff is suspected to be COVID19 positive at 6pm, 25 September. They then explained their measures and steps taken in detail.

The other statement was made to ensure future customers that the mall is sanitised and cleaned every 45 minutes during operational hours. They also mention having a “tight standard” of physical distancing with regular checks, temperature screening and safety protocols.

Nu Sentral

Nu Sentral released a statement saying that one of their employees has tested positive for COVID-19 on 26 September. They then explained that all close contacts, including employees at the management office have tested negative for COVID-19 but all employees are self-quarantined for 14 days.

There is also a statement letter going around social media about a COVID-19 case involving staff member at Central Walk I-City having a travelling history, and that the management office will be closed until 4 October. However, they have not yet issued a statement to the public.

What’s going on with MySejahtera?

MySejahtera, the contact tracing app, has also been scrutinised for not having the recent info show up. A few netizens brought up how the app’s hotspot tracker showed no reported cases for the past 28 days.

You’ll see that as of 10.22am, 28 September, there have been “no reported cases” of COVID-19 in any of the places mentioned in the article. To check if the app’s hotspot tracker works at all, I checked Sabah and according to MySejahtera, there have been reports there.

To check for yourself, open up the MySejahtera app, press “Close” on the top right, and then press “Hotspot”. Type in the areas you’d like to check on. Needless to say, netizens have been worried about this as well.

As COVID-19 cases are rising (new cases jumped to 150 yesterday), we should not stop following SOPs like wearing masks in public, keeping sanitised and avoid going out unless absolutely necessary. And since the hotspot tracker in the MySejahtera app isn’t really dependable, make sure to check social media posts of the places you want to visit before you visit them—to check if they’ve posted a COVID-19 related statement.

[ UPDATE 28/09/2020 12:23 ] The Ministry of Health has just issued a statement on Facebook to respond to concerns of MySejahtera on social media.

[ SOURCE, 2 ]

Related reading