Federal cabinet to get tested for Covid-19 after minister Mustapa found positive: Source

Kuala Lumpur: Federal ministers are to be screened for Covid-19 after Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed tested positive for the virus on Sunday, a government official told Malay Mail today.

The official who spoke on condition of anonymity said swab tests have started in Putrajaya.

“Yes. Yes. It is confirmed. It is happening now in Putrajaya,” the official said when contacted without disclosing who or how many ministers were involved.

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Mustapa, who is minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of economic affairs, tested positive for Covid-19 during a screening after arriving in Kota Baru, Kelantan from Kuala Lumpur two days ago.

His office issued a statement saying he has since been admitted to Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II in Kota Baru.

Another government source confirmed to Malay Mail that he attended a recent Cabinet meeting before testing positive for the infection.

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Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah told Malay Mail yesterday that contact tracing for Mustapa is already underway.

Mustapa is the second Cabinet member to have contracted Covid-19.

Last October, Islamic Affairs Minister Datuk Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri tested positive Covid-19, which required several other ministers including the prime minister to be quarantined as they had been at a special Cabinet meeting together.