Kuala Langat: Covid-19 screenings to complete Friday, says district officer


Armed Forces and police personnel man a roadblock in Taman Langat Murni, Kuala Langat June 3, 2020. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon
Armed Forces and police personnel man a roadblock in Taman Langat Murni, Kuala Langat June 3, 2020. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

KUALA LANGAT, June 3 — The Covid-19 screening tests on 9,000 residents in two housing estates here under the administrative movement control order (MCO) starting on Tuesday night is expected to be completed this Friday, said Kuala Langat District Officer Mohd Jusni Hashim.

He said the two housing estates involved, namely, Taman Langat Murni and Taman Langat Utama, were subject to administrative MCO until June 16.

Both locations were subjected to administrative MCO after 20 foreign workers of a cleaning company at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport living in the area were found to be positive with Covid-19 on Thursday (May 28).

“Of the 9,000 residents here, 30 per cent are foreigners. As of Friday, 114 close contacts with the patients have been identified and isolated at the quarantine station at the Islamic Training Institute Malaysia and the Legal and Judicial Training Institute in Bangi.

‘‘From Saturday to yesterday, 2,250 samples were taken from 1,499 locals and 751 foreigners. With a capacity of performing 2,000 swab test samples daily, we expect all 9,000 residents to complete underging the Covid-19 screening test this Friday,” he said at a press conference here today.

According to Mohd Jusni, the administrative MCO in the area was divided into three zones involving 1,752 houses.

“Zone A encompasses 480 houses, zone B has 778 houses and zone C, 494 houses. To date, it is the largest administrative MCO area covering 43.3 hectares with four kilometres of barbed wire.

“A total of 664 frontline personnel from the Royal Malaysian Police, the Malaysian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Health Malaysia will monitor the area throughout the administrative MCO,” he said.

He added that even though both housing estates were subjected to the administrative MCO, locals who had not undergone Covid-19 screening could still go in and out but only for purposes which were permitted.

For locals who had completed the screening test, he said they had to quarantine themselves in their homes for 14 days but foreigners were not allowed to leave the location until the expiry of the order.

Commenting on the operation of the business premises in the area during the administrative MCO, Mohd Jusni said food outlets and grocery stores were still allowed to operate at the same time from 8 am to 10 pm.

He also urged any non-governmental organisation intending to distribute essential goods to the affected residents to register their contributions with the Malaysian Social Welfare Department first. — Bernama