60 traders at Taman Megah morning market screened after one Covid-19 positive case

Wednesday 24 Apr 2024

KUALA LUMPUR (April 26): The Ministry of Health (MoH) have screened 60 traders who operate at Taman Megah morning market in SS24, Petaling Jaya, for Covid-19, after one trader tested positive for the deadly virus.

The trader contracted the virus at the Kuala Lumpur Wholesale Market near Selayang that has recently reopened, after it had been shut down earlier.

Director-General (DG) of Health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the measure was taken as part of the ministry’s active case detection through close contacts.

“We were informed that there are 60 traders operating there. We have closed the market and we will screen and test all the 60 traders, because they are considered to be in close contact with the trader who tested positive,” he said.

However, the DG clarified that this is not categorised as a new cluster, as the infected trader had contracted the virus from the KL wholesale market. The trader also operates at the market in Bahau, Negeri Sembilan.

The data collected by MoH suggests there is usually a 30% detection rate among those who have close contact with infected individuals.

He explained the chances that a person would test positive is much higher, if he or she has been in close contact with an infected person, as compared to, for example, those living in the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) areas, which has an average detection rate of 2.9%.

“The detection rate is much higher if we focus on the data on close contact. For comparison, the Seri Petaling tabligh assembly has an average detection rate of 10%, and the tahfiz group is about 5%. These are the general percentages in terms of the incidence of cases,” he said.

Malaysia's active Covid cases with high transmission risks have been declining for 14 consecutive days.

The MoH announced that the number of active cases dropped to 1,820 as of noon today — the lowest level since March 27.

There were 38 new cases, bringing the total number of cases in Malaysia to 5,780.

Meanwhile, 100 patients recovered and were discharged from treatment today. The total number of recoveries increased to 3,862, equivalent to 66.8% against the total infection number.

There are currently 36 confirmed cases being treated in Intensive Care Units (ICUs), of whom 15 patients require respiratory assistance.

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