Malaysia PM Muhyiddin Yassin quarantined after official tests COVID-19 positive

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will be under home quarantine for 14 days after an official, who attended a meeting with him, tested positive for COVID-19. The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that Yassin chaired a post-Cabinet meeting on May 20 where the official was present.

According to the PM office, the 73-year-old Malaysian leader went through a COVID-19 screening test and was tested negative for it. It added that, however, the Prime Minister is required to undergo quarantine at home for 14 days beginning this afternoon, as per the COVID-19 Contact Monitoring and Observation Order (Section 15 (1) of Act 342).

“All members of the meeting were also instructed to undergo a screening and quarantine test at their home for 14 days starting today,” the PM office stated.

In February, Malaysian King had appointed Yassin as the Prime Minister after Mahathir Mohamad resigned from the post in an unsuccessful attempt to regain the control. On May 18, the King asserted that the appointment of Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister during political turmoil was proper and constitutional. The South-East Asian nation has reported over 7,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 115 death related to it so far.

Read: Malaysian King Upholds Yassin's Appointment, Says 'qualified To Be PM'

Over five million cases worldwide

According to the latest report, over 5.2 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide with over 335,000 deaths, overwhelming health care facilities across the globe. The United States, Russia, Brazil, and the UK are the worst-hit countries due to the pandemic with around 60 per cent of death toll reported from these four countries alone. 

The numbers get more sombre for the US as it has reported nearly 1.6 million cases, almost one-third of the worldwide cases, and more than 96,000 deaths due to the infectious disease. Within the United States, New York has reported over one-fourth of the nationwide coronavirus cases and almost one-tenth of the worldwide cases.

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