Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Selangor had the most number of cases with 117, followed by Pahang (52), Kelantan (six), Kuala Lumpur (four) and one each in Melaka and Negeri Sembilan.
Most of the cases fall into Category 1 and Category 2, where patients only display mild symptoms or none at all.
Khairy added that a total of 206 individuals had been identified as close contacts, and all positive patients and close contacts had been sent to hospitals, quarantine centres or special temporary relief centres.
More than 41,000 flood victims have been evacuated to temporary relief shelters across the peninsula as of this morning.
“The health ministry expects a rise in cases because of evacuations that were forced to be carried out in very high-risk conditions, where some public health measures could not be fully implemented,” he said at a press conference at the Parliament building in Kuala Lumpur.
“… Sometimes measures that should have been followed were not. We understand. You’re rescuing people from the floods, that is the priority.”
He said among the Covid-19 SOPs which might not have been followed during rescue operations included the wearing of face masks.
Khairy added that health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had notified all states to be prepared to manage a rise in cases due to the floods, which the environment and water ministry has described as a once-in-a-century weather event.
He also said ministry officials deployed to the field would continue to screen flood victims and isolate those found to be positive, adding that temporary relief centres would continue to be stocked with medical supplies such as face masks and sanitisers.
Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang, Perak, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan and Terengganu were faced with torrential rain on Friday and Saturday, causing untold damage to property and leaving numerous motorists stranded on flooded roads.
At least seven people have died in floods in Selangor as of 4pm today. In Pahang, the body of a 34-year-old man was found in Kuantan this morning. The man was reportedly traveling to Pekan with a friend when the floods hit.
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