Community screening by Selangor finds no symptoms in 80% of Covid-19 positive patients

SHAH ALAM, 17 April 2020:

The first community Covid-19 screening tests conducted by the Selangor government on Saturday and Sunday in Hulu Langat found that four out of five positive cases were asymptomatic.

Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the results of the tests had been sent to the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) of the Selangor Health Department and the Ministry of Health (MoH) for further action.

“The tests on 649 samples were conducted at the Dusun, Sungai Ramal and Kajang state legislative assembly halls in accordance with the approved procedures of the MoH and monitored by the respective district health offices.

“The results of the community screenings found that the Covid-19 positive-negative ratio was 1% and consistent with the national infection rate,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Amirudin said the results of the community screenings were also in line with the recommendation of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which called for screenings to be increased until the case ratio was less than 10%.

He said the Selangor government would continue to conduct screenings on the community in other red zones in the state based on the Selangor Covid-19 Special Committee’s data – especially on high-risk groups like senior citizens who had no symptoms, in a bid to help MoH break the Covid-19 infection chain.

– Bernama