PUTRAJAYA – All officers and staff at the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry's headquarters here have been instructed to undergo self-quarantine and work from home from today after detection of a Covid-19 case.
An officer with Tourism Malaysia, an agency of the ministry, attached to the headquarters tested Covid-19 positive, the ministry said in a statement today.
“The ministry's building in Putrajaya was sanitised by officers from Health Ministry yesterday evening as a measure to stem any spread of the disease,” it said.
The ministry added that contact tracing has found that its minister, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, has had no direct contact with the infected officer.
It said Nancy took a Covid-19 swab test at 5.15pm yesterday and the result was negative.
As a precautionary measure, Nancy will undergo another swab test this morning, the statement said.
Meanwhile, an aide to the minister confirmed that she is at the ministry office in the Sultan Abdul Samad building in Kuala Lumpur.
“During the Parliament session, the minister operates from the office in Kuala Lumpur. She had no contact with the infected officer and this has been verified (through contact tracing) by the Health Minister,” the aide said.
At the Dewan Rakyat sitting today, Balik Pulau MP Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik of Pakatan Harapan (PH) asked Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun about the minister being allowed to be in the Dewan Rakyat following detection of the Covid-19 case at the ministry's headquarters.
Nancy is scheduled to wrap up the debate in the House on the Supply Bill 2021 or Budget 2021 for her ministry today. – Bernama, November 26, 2020
