Barber Who Tested Positive For COVID-19 Had Provided House Calls To 21 Clients During MCO
He is a Pakistani national and had come into contact with 40 people.
By Sadho Ram — 12 Jun 2020, 07:14 PM
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has now confirmed the media reports that a barber in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur tested positive for COVID-19 just two days after the barbershop reopened
He is a Pakistani national and had come into contact with 40 people.
As all of them are close contacts, they have since been quarantined, the Health D-G said.
While the barbershop had been close since the start of the Movement Control Order (MCO), the barber had provided his services privately
According to Dr Noor Hisham, 21 clients had been using the man's haircutting services at their residences since the MCO began on 18 March and ended on 9 June, lasting for 83 days.
"He has been cutting hair on private request and giving hair cutting services from house to house," he said, adding that they received an alert about the barber's infection from a private hospital on Thursday, 11 June.
"Thus far, 25 close contacts have been identified from telephone records - four are the patient's housemates and 21 were his clients," the Health D-G said during his daily press briefing today.
Dr Noor Hisham explained that on 10 June, when the barbershop reopened, his employer had taken him for COVID-19 screening. Following which, 15 more close contacts had received haircuts from him.
