Dr M under home quarantine after ‘close contact’ with Covid-19 patient
CORONAVIRUS | Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is under self-quarantine following close contact with a confirmed Covid-19 case.
According to Mahathir’s aide, today is the 95-year-old politician’s second day in quarantine, and he had been tested for the virus on Tuesday.
CORONAVIRUS | Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is under self-quarantine following close contact with a confirmed Covid-19 case.
According to Mahathir’s aide, today is the 95-year-old politician’s second day in quarantine, and he had been tested for the virus on Tuesday.
“I am not at liberty to release the results yet”, the aide told reporters in a WhatsApp group, when asked whether Mahathir (photo) has received his test results.
He added that Mahathir’s 93-year-old spouse Dr Siti Hasmah Ali is not facing any issues.
Meanwhile, The Star reported that Mahathir is believed to have taken a picture with Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii, who has since been hospitalised at the Sarawak General Hospital after testing positive for the disease.
Yii had disclosed his condition in a Facebook post on March 17.
Under Health Ministry guidelines for handling Covid-19 cases, people deemed by health officials to be "close contacts" of a laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 case will be tested for the disease.
They would be ordered to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine at home if they do not show symptoms and their home environment is deemed suitable for the quarantine. Otherwise, they may be admitted to the hospital.
Close contacts of confirmed cases will also be warded if they test positive for the disease, or become ill during the quarantine.
Meanwhile, in a video clip aired by TV3’s Bulletin Utama, Mahathir said he would comply with the quarantine requirements.
“I will comply because we need to be disciplined in facing this problem. We should be willing to be quarantined at home for 14 days.
“If we do so, then the chances of spreading the disease to others will be reduced,” he said in the clip, which is also shared on Facebook.
He said the quarantine does not pose much hardship for him despite being unable to meet anyone, and it is a religious obligation to undergo quarantine.
“We must be vigilant and rein in ourselves. If we need to isolate ourselves for 14 days, that is okay because it is for the good. This is our bid to fulfil our religious obligations, which is to make our effort before Allah fulfils our prayers,” he said.
Mahathir also urged Malaysians to stay where they are and not use the movement control order as an opportunity to go to their hometowns, which could help spread the disease to the villages.
“And if we don’t watch ourselves and greet people, village folk too will get the disease,” he said.
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