Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the officer, whose death was reported today, was detected to be positive for Covid-19 on July 31 through a RT-PCR test, noting that this person had a history of attending the Dewan Rakyat special sitting from July 26 to July 29. ― Picture by Yusof Mat Isa
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10 — The death of a high-ranking government official is the first death recorded out of the 97 Covid-19 cases detected in relation to Parliament so far, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.
Dr Noor Hisham said the officer, whose death was reported today, was detected to be positive for Covid-19 on July 31 through a RT-PCR test, noting that this person had a history of attending the Dewan Rakyat special sitting from July 26 to July 29.
Dr Noor Hisham said this officer had tested negative twice in the pre-screening test on July 23 before the Dewan Rakyat sitting, and also through the RTK-Ag Self-test Kit using saliva on July 29.
“He then started displaying symptoms on July 31, 2021 and tested positive through PCR test with a Cycle Threshold (CT) value of 14.88. His condition worsened and was admitted to the hospital on August 4, 2021 for further treatment.
“But his situation was very critical and passed away on August 9, 2021,” Dr Noor Hisham said in his statement.
While Dr Noor Hisham did not name the deceased officer, news reports earlier today had already identified the officer to be Datuk Jaimin Samitah, who was the special functions officer for Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Guandee Kohoi.
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