COVID: Melaka Hospital still operational even with 32 staff testing positive

MELAKA: The Melaka Hospital still has sufficient capacity to operate despite having 32 staffers testing positive for COVID-19, says state health and anti-drug committee chairman Datuk Rahmad Mariman.

He said the hospital had enough manpower to replace those who have tested positive.

According to him, all 32 staff were tested positive for COVID-19 under the Bukit Palah Cluster during screening, and initial investigations found that the infection was caused by a patient from Jempol, Negeri Sembilan who was infected with COVID-19 and received treatment at the hospital.

"As of noon yesterday, a total of 168 individuals who were close contacts of those infected have been screened with 55 of them still waiting for their results," he said when met by reporters here yesterday.

He added that Melaka currently has 15 clusters and the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in the state as of yesterday was 3,078, with 1,299 of them active, and eight recorded deaths.

In another development, Rahmad said two Form Five students -- one from a boarding school in Bukit Piatu here and another from a full boarding school in Jasin -- were tested positive for COVID-19.

-- BERNAMA