KUALA LUMPUR – Parliament, in collaboration with the Health Ministry (MoH) and National Security Council (NSC), has developed several standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure the smooth running of the First Meeting of the Fourth Session of the 14th Parliament today to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmissions.
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said among the SOPs include being fully vaccinated (with the 14-day window period complete) and having undergone a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test within three days before entering the building.
“In addition, during the parliamentary session, all attendees in the Parliament building must undergo a self-test to detect Covid-19 infection, as prescribed by Parliament,” he said in a statement yesterday.
He said the MoH also advised all individuals attending Parliament to comply with the existing SOPs and regulations to ensure smooth and safe sittings.
Meanwhile, he said, 26 of the 1,801 individuals who underwent Covid-19 screening tests at the Parliament building were confirmed positive for Covid-19, and the reported cases were the result of RT-PCR tests involving a senator and 25 parliamentary staff.
He said two MPs were also identified as Covid-19 positive based on screenings outside the complex.
“Preliminary findings revealed that all positive individuals had completed their vaccinations and 15 of them were previously confirmed positive for Covid-19 between May 27, 2021 and September 1, 2021, while 13 individuals tested positive for the first time during screenings between September 10 and 11.
“Two cases had high infectivity rates with a RT-PCR cycle threshold (CT) value between 17.57 and 20.58, and 26 cases had a CT value of between 21.95 and 38.23,” he said.
He added the PCR genotyping assay tests conducted revealed 18 samples were likely to be the Delta variant and one with a likelihood of being the Beta variant.
He said the National Public Health Laboratory (MKAK) has begun conducting Covid-19 whole genome sequencing to determine the variants.
In the meantime, he said among the measures taken to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the Parliament building, is to ensure the individuals confirmed positive for the first time (13 cases) are not allowed to attend the sittings.
“They have been isolated and given a HSO (home surveillance and observation order). Investigations and risk assessments are still being carried out to determine the epidemiological relationship among each of them and to identify close contacts,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham also said that individuals who had been confirmed Covid-19-positive before (15 cases) would be rechecked to assess their current level of health and infection so that further action can be taken.
“This move is important to further identify the status of their infection, as there are those who still have mild symptoms. For now, they are also not allowed to attend the parliamentary session until they are given the final results of the evaluation by the MoH.” – Bernama, September 13, 2021
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