The Health Ministry announced that one Covid-19 death reported today was linked to the Dewan Rakyat special sitting held from July 26 to 29 at the Parliament building in Kuala Lumpur.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (above) said the death involved a government official with a history of being at the Parliament from July 26 to 29, with his pre-Dewan Rakyat screening on July 23 and Rapid Antigen (RTK-Ag) Self-Test Kit Saliva (on July 29) both being negative.

“He then exhibited symptoms on July 31 and his polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test returned a positive result with a cycle threshold (CT) value of 14.88.

“His condition deteriorated and he was admitted to the hospital on Aug 4 for further treatment. His condition was very critical and he died on Aug 9,” Noor Hisham said in a statement today.

He said the person, who had just tested positive for Covid-19, was present during the Dewan Rakyat sitting.

He said the case was among nine additional Covid-19 positive cases linked to the special sitting at the Parliament, bringing the total number of related cases to 97.

He said four close contacts to the positive case, who tested positive using the RTK-Ag test during the pre-Dewan Rakyat screening, was reported by the district health office on July 23.

All cases were found to exhibit minor symptoms, he said, and were ordered to be issued home surveillance orders (HSO) and recovered after their HSOs ended.

Also, he said out of the four close contacts, one had a CT value of 19.62, while the rest were between 32.76 and 36.07.

A higher CT value from an RT-PCR test indicates a lower viral load.

Six cases had completed both vaccination shots, while two more were children who are not yet eligible for vaccination.

Noor Hisham said based on the ministry’s investigation, although the positive cases were not related to each other, except for the close contacts, the sharing of rooms and facilities, including toilets, surau, and dining areas by many individuals had put many at risk of Covid-19 infection in Parliament.

“Eight samples of the Parliament cases with low CT values have been sent to the Institute of Medical Research for genomic tests. Five of them are Delta Variant of Concern (VOC) while two samples were not processed successfully, and we are still waiting for the results of the remaining sample.

“Therefore, we advise individuals who were at the Parliament to continue to self-monitor their health using the MySejahtera app. If there are symptoms, they are advised to carry out a Covid-19 screening test and to seek immediate treatment,” he added.

On Aug 8, it was reported that 88 Covid-19 positive cases linked to the sitting were identified.

- Bernama

Number allowed into next Dewan Rakyat session being discussed

Number allowed into next Dewan Rakyat session being discussed

Aide dies after attending special Parliament sitting, contracting Covid-19

Aide dies after attending special Parliament sitting, contracting Covid-19

DG: Three more vaccinated persons at Parliament down with Covid-19

DG: Three more vaccinated persons at Parliament down with Covid-19

MOH: Parliament surau, toilets possible contributor to spread of Covid-19

MOH: Parliament surau, toilets possible contributor to spread of Covid-19