By Ashwin Kumar
SHAH ALAM, April 16 — Four out of five recorded cases from the first phase of the Selangor Covid-19 community screening operation in Hulu Langat, which was held on April 11 and 12, are asymptomatic carriers.
Selangor Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari said a total of 649 samples were taken from the residents in Kajang, Sungai Ramal and Dusun Tua and tested by the District Health Office (PKD) in accordance with the guidelines and procedures implemented by the Health Ministry (MOH).
“The results of the screening were sent to the PKD, Selangor Health Department Crisis Preparedness and Response Center (CPRC) and National CPRC for the next course of action.
“The community screening is targeted in several red zones in the state identified through a public data analysis conducted by the Selangor Task Force for Covid-19 (STFC),” said Amirudin in a statement today.
He said the state administration will continue to carry out the screening in the red zones to complement the efforts by the MOH as well as to identify the high-risk groups, especially senior citizens, who may be asymptomatic.
Meanwhile, Amirudin said the results gathered from the mass testing programme showed the ratio of positive-negative cases is at 1 per cent, which was consistent with the national rate.
“It is also in line with the World Health Organisation’s recommendation for screenings to be increased so that the ratio would be less than 10 per cent,” he added.
On April 8, Amirudin had announced the Covid-19 big-scale testing operation to be carried out in the identified red zones across Selangor.
The first in the country to involve house-to-house activity, the exercise aims to screen a total of 5,000 individuals.
The operation, which is coordinated by the STFC, is part of the state government’s efforts to facilitate the MOH in breaking the chain of the Covid-19 infection and reduce the transmission rate.
