TANJUNG MALIM:Police have managed to detain a COVID-19 patient who escaped from the Slim River Hospital here yesterday.

Tanjung Malim District Police chief Supt Sulizmie Affendy Sulaiman said police received a call from the hospital about a man with a blue wristband who had escaped from Ward 7 at about 4.48 pm.

However, the 29-year-old man was detained at about 6 pm by personnel from the Slim River Police Station Crime Prevention Patrol team near a petrol station in the Bandar Baru Slim River area.

“A health team, with complete personal protection equipment (PPE), arrived to take him back to the hospital,” he said in a statement.

Sulizmie Affendy said that based on the latest information, the test results by the health team confirmed that the man was negative for COVID-19 and would be allowed to leave the ward today (Nov 23).

Police checks also found that the man had six records and had been arrested to assist in the investigation of the case under Sections 186 and 269 of the Penal Code and Section 22 (b) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988.

-- BERNAMA