Malaysia PM Muhyiddin completes COVID-19 quarantine, tests negative

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin completed his 14-day COVID-19 home quarantine on Friday (Oct 16), said the Prime Minister’s Office.

He has tested negative for the coronavirus twice.

“The MOH (Ministry of Health) has performed COVID-19 detection screening test on the prime minister’s second sample on Oct 14 and results were confirmed negative on Oct 15," said his office in a statement.

"As such, the Prime Minister’s Office would like to announce that both COVID-19 detection tests for the prime minister throughout his self-quarantine period were negative and his self-quarantine ended on Oct 16."

Muhyiddin announced earlier this month that he would undergo self-quarantine at his residence for 14 days based on the health ministry's advice, after a minister who attended a meeting he chaired tested positive for COVID-19.

READ: Malaysian PM Muhyiddin on 14-day home quarantine after religious affairs minister tests positive for COVID-19

Despite being free of COVID-19, the Prime Minister's Office said Muhyiddin chaired the National Security Council (MKN) special meeting on COVID-19 via video conferencing on Saturday morning.

“Although the self-quarantine has ended, the MKN special meeting was still held via a video conference as a precautionary measure in light of the current COVID-19 situation in the country.

“The MKN special meetings have taken place daily since Oct 7,” the statement said.

Malaysia has imposed tighter COVID-19 restrictions in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya until Oct 27 after an increase in the number of cases in the country. 

On Saturday, the country reported a daily high of 869 new cases and four more deaths.

Many of the new infections are from the state of Sabah.

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