5,000 Malaysians feared exposed to virus at event

KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA • The Malaysian authorities are tracking around 5,000 citizens across the country believed to have been potentially exposed to the coronavirus at a religious event on the outskirts of the capital, while neighbouring Indonesia confirmed its first death from the disease.

Malaysia's Health Ministry said in a statement yesterday that contact tracing was initiated after neighbouring Brunei reported its first case of coronavirus infection on Tuesday - a 53-year-old man who had attended the same event at a mosque between Feb 27 and March 1.

"Based on preliminary information, the religious event involved an estimated 10,000 people from several countries, including Malaysia," the ministry's secretary-general, Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, said.

"The Health Ministry urges all who had attended the event to cooperate with health officials to ensure Covid-19 does not continue to spread in their communities."

Malaysia reported 20 new cases of coronavirus infection yesterday, bringing the cumulative tally to 149.

Meanwhile, Indonesia said yesterday that a 53-year-old British woman with several underlying health conditions, including hypertension and diabetes, has died from the coronavirus.

The death came just slightly over a week after the country announced its first positive case, which as of yesterday morning stood at 34.

The provincial government in Bali, where the patient who died had been treated, said she held British citizenship.

"(The patient) had underlying conditions of high blood pressure, hyperthyroidism and long years of obstructive lung disease.

"She was 53 and a foreigner. The embassy has been informed," Mr Achmad Yurianto, a spokesman for the Covid-19 task force, told a news conference.

He declined to disclose the nationality of the woman, but said she died at around 2am yesterday.

"Coronavirus had reduced her immune system, and, in turn, worsened her pre-existing medical conditions," Mr Achmad added.

Indonesia yesterday announced seven new cases of the coronavirus - all of whom were imported cases - adding to the eight cases on Tuesday, and 13 cases on Monday.

With the number of cases rising, Indonesia is stepping up its capacity for testing people for Covid-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus.

An additional 10,000 rapid PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test kits arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday. They are to supplement the more accurate swab tests, which take longer to confirm results.

REUTERS

• Additional reporting by Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja