HTAR director Dr Ding Lay Ming who confirmed the incident said, preliminary investigation revealed that the likely cause was the food served after a department meeting on the same day.

“A total of 76 staff were affected and some required admission. The hospital management together with the clinical team managed the situation well to ensure the smooth operations of hospital services.

“All emergency operations and intensive care services were not affected. Since those affected were from the Department of Anaesthesia, some of the elective operations scheduled for Thursday and Friday were postponed,” she said in a statement yesterday.

However, Ding said, with the assistance and great teamwork from all those involved, the operating theatre services had now resumed to normal.

She added, the relevant authorities from the health ministry would do the necessary remedial actions, pending the full investigation results.