Self-quarantine ordered for staff at Tourism Ministry’s headquarters
PUTRAJAYA: All officers and staff at the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry headquarters here have been instructed to undergo self-quarantine and work from home from yesterday after detection of a Covid-19 case.
An officer with Tourism Malaysia, an agency of the ministry, was found to be Covid-19 positive.
Tourism Malaysia’s office is attached to the ministry’s headquarters.
The ministry said in a statement yesterday that its building in Putrajaya was sanitised by officers from the Health Ministry on Wednesday evening as a measure to stem the spread of the infection,” it said.
It also said that contact tracing revealed that minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri had no direct contact with the infected officer and that this was verified by the Health Ministry.
It said Nancy took a Covid-19 swab test at 5.15pm on Wednesday and the result was negative.
As a precautionary measure, Nancy had another swab test yesterday morning, the statement said.
Meanwhile, an aide to Nancy confirmed that the minister was at the ministry office at the Sultan Abdul Samad Building in Kuala Lumpur.
“During the Dewan Rakyat 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 Ministry,” the aide said.
At the Dewan Rakyat sitting yesterday, 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 was at the Dewan Rakyat to wrap up the debate in the House on the Supply Bill 2021 or Budget 2021 for her ministry yesterday. - Bernama