Since the confirmation of Malaysia’s 26th Covid-19 patient, folks had been accusing him of being irresponsible and inconsiderate for causing the second wave of the outbreak in Malaysia. However, amidst the blames and finger-pointings, he had released an official statement yesterday (6 March) while he was still under treatment at Sungai Buloh Hospital.
Hisham Hamdan started off his statement by acknowledging and appreciating the medical team’s diligence and effort in treating his case. He explained that he experienced fever and cough on 27 February, therefore he sought treatment at SJMC that very afternoon. He was initially concerned that he had dengue fever, although he had also specifically requested for the Covid-19 test. He went home right after the test at SJMC, as reported on Free Malaysia Today.
On 28 February, he was testing Covid-19 positive, so he proceeded to Sungai Buloh Hospital to get isolated and treated on 29 February. At that point, he was confirmed as Malaysia’s 26th case.
As the Health Ministry announced that Hisham took a trip to Shanghai, China in January, many people began their accusations that he had not quarantined himself after returning to Malaysia. In his statement, Hisham explained that his trip to Shanghai was dated from 13 to 17 January to attend a conference. And at that point of the outbreak, the confirmed cases were in Wuhan, which he never stepped foot in. Shanghai’s first recorded case was on 20 January, three days after he returned to Malaysia. Hisham’s symptoms only exhibited on 27 February, which was more than a month since his return.
He would like to clarify that his Covid-19 case was not related to his Shanghai trip, and he may have contracted the coronavirus in Malaysia. That being said, he said he is not the 26th person to be infected with Covid-19, although he is the 26th person to be tested positive.
“Given that I returned on Jan 17, and given that I exhibited symptoms on Feb 27, it is – as far as medical research is concerned – not possible for me to have obtained the virus from my trip to Shanghai.”
The Chairman of UDA Holdings had also acknowledged that it is true that the second wave of the outbreak is linked to him, however, he does not think that he was the “source” of the second wave and that he is not Patient Zero.
“As I mentioned, the health ministry is still searching for Patient Zero. I just happened to be the first person who was tested from this string of meetings.”
We hope that the tracing can be done as thorough as possible and that the people who had been tested positive can recover ASAP.
Also read: JUST IN: M’sia Reports 28 New Covid-19 Patients Classified As Second-Generation Cases
