In a Facebook post, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the students, aged between 14 and 29, were part of the Sri Petaling Mosque tabligh convention cluster.

They were previously quarantined at Institut Social Malaysia before being warded at HCTM on April 2.

“All of them did not experience any symptoms and two swab samples taken during screenings in the middle of March and on March 24 tested negative.”

The students, from Madrasah Miftahul Ulum, only tested positive after a third swab sample was taken on March 30.

During treatment, Noor Hisham said only one student experienced symptoms on April 5 and was given hydroxychloroquine.

“From a medical aspect, screening for diagnosis and early treatment is important to ensure all Covid-19 patients have the chance to fully heal.

“These students were young patients. So, the process of healing and prognosis is better compared to elderly patients or those with chronic illnesses like hypertension and diabetes,” he said, adding receiving early treatment was crucial.

He also said it was important that in this case, early quarantine and isolation was initiated although the students showed no symptoms. Otherwise, they could have spread the virus unknowingly.

To date, 4,530 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the country, with 73 deaths recorded.