Selangor to do mass testing in several areas to assist Health Ministry in containing COVID-19

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the effort represented a strategy of the state’s Special Committee on COVID-19, following the detection of positive cases among individuals who were asymptomatic (people who are infected but do not exhibit symptoms).

“The high number of COVID-19 cases in the state is certainly concerning but I am more worried if there are asymptomatic cases.

“Therefore, we will increase the number of tests and based on the advice of the Selangor Health Department, two or three places have been identified for ‘mass tests’. We anticipate that about 1,000 to 1,200 screenings will be undertaken,” he told reporters here today.

Amirudin added that with more tests undertaken, infection trends in certain locations could be detected and as such, containment measures could be heightened.

“Based on our records of all cases, there are more than 225 asymptomatic cases of individuals who have tested positive,” he said.

Meanwhile, asked about the arrest of a Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA) councillor who had recently defied the Movement Control Order (MCO), Amirudin said the local authority will be taking disciplinary action against the man concerned.

Last Friday, the councillor along with three friends, had been detained by the police for playing badminton at a multipurpose hall in Section 25 here.

Earlier today, Amirudin had flagged off a ‘Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung’ (GPMS) convoy providing food packs for about 1,700 students at institutions of higher learning, who could not return to their hometowns following the imposition of the MCO.