KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 — Five more COVID-19 cases which were linked to the Special Parliamentary Sitting on July 26 to 29 have been detected, bringing the total to 102 cases.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the new cases announced on Aug 13 involved five in a family with the first symptomatic case being the individual who attended the sitting.
“Three cases have cycle threshold values or CT values on RT PCR of between 16.98 to 22.76 (high infectivity) while two more were between 28.98 and 33.98,” he said in a statement today.
He said all of them have completed two doses of vaccine and only had mild symptoms and they are undergoing quarantine in their respective homes.
He said with the addition of five cases, there are now 30 infections from the Dewan Rakyat meeting.
“From the 30 cases, two involved Members of Parliament, nine comprised escort personnel, nine government officers, seven cases involving family members. two contractors and one Parliament employee,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham also said 56 cases were identified from pre-Dewan Rakyat screening and eight cases from close contacts as well as eight from pre-Senate screening.
He said the Health Ministry (MOH) with the Parliament and the National Security Council (MKN) had discussed several improvements required as preparations for the reopening of Parliament to reduce the risk of spreading the infection before and during the sitting.
He said the preparedness encompassed actions to ensure individuals present in Parliament are healthy and not infected with COVID-19 during the period and the environment as well as inside Parliament building should be studied and improved so that it is safer and less risky against the spread of disease.
