Newly appointed Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin could be infected with Covid-19 after being in close contact with an infected patient.
According to Berita Harian, Hisham Hamdan, the Executive Director, Head, Public Markets and Head, Research at Khazanah Nasional Berhad was confirmed to be infected with Covid-19. He is reported to be Case 26 in Malaysia.
Hisham had travelled to Shanghai in the middle of January and developed a fever and sore throat on 27th February, and has since been admitted to the Sungai Buloh Hospital.
He had come into close contact with a former minister and an Amanah MP, both of whom have not been identified.
All three individuals had attended the same function on 27th February at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, which was an appreciation event as they were leaving the ministry after the dissolution of the Pakatan Harapan government, reported MalaysiaKini.
Hisham is also reported to be a close ally of Muhyiddin and has been in constant contact with him and the band of cross-party schemers behind the new government over the past three days. However, no announcement has been made about the contact so far.
According to Sarawak Report, a top consultant and Covid-19 advisor said that close contacts should self-isolate themselves as a precautionary measure.
“If there is contact with a confirmed index case of COVID-19, all those who have had close contact with the index case are at risk. Subsequently, their close contacts too are at risk, and they should all take self-isolation precaution measures for 14 days,” he said.
This means that Muhyiddin and all his close political allies who mingled closely with Hisham during a series of closed meetings and open celebrations on numerous occasions since Thursday should be taking the initiative to self-isolate.
However, besides the Amanah MP who has isolated himself, there has been no evidence that the rest of the close-contact individuals have taken themselves out of circulation, let alone confessed their status as potential carriers of the infection.
It has been reported that it is easier for individuals who have pre-existing conditions to contract the Covid-19 virus, which means that Muhyiddin, who is recovering from stage-one pancreatic cancer, is vulnerable to the danger of infection.
The responsible thing that these politicians need to do is to put themselves in self-isolation or risk infecting others with the virus.
Also read: Covid-19: Four New Cases Confirmed Today, All Of Them Are Malaysians
