A Works Department officer confirmed with Covid-19 was in the Parliament complex on September 10 when the legislature was meeting, administrators confirmed today.
Covid-19 has an average incubation period of two weeks, the entirety of which may be contagious.
“The officer was confirmed to be in the Parliament complex on September 10.
Based on checks done, the officer was present to assist the deputy works minister during the winding-up of debate on Yang diPertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ria’yatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah’s royal address to the Dewan Rakyat,” the official said in a statement today.
The deputy works minister is Datuk Shabudin Yahaya from Umno.
It is unclear how many of the 70 senators, some of whom may be campaigning in Sabah for the state election, came into contact with the infected officer.
The officer was allowed into the Parliament compound as he was asymptomatic and had passed all Covid-19 screenings that were done in accordance to the National Security Council’s standard operating procedures, the administrator said.
The Parliament official stressed that all precautionary measures as instituted by the NSC and the Health Ministry were observed the entire time federal lawmakers sat.
The Fire and Rescue Department will conduct a sanitisation and disinfection exercise to ensure the Senate may continue its sittings scheduled from September 21 to 23.
Yesterday, the Works Department confirmed that the officer attached to its headquarters in Jalan Sultan Salahuddin tested positive for Covid-19 after undergoing a random swab test at the Kuching International Airport in Sarawak on Monday.
The person still flew back to the peninsula and disembarked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, from where he was taken to Hospital Sungai Buloh for treatment. – MALAY MAIL
