Man alleged to be COVID-19 positive in video actually suffered heart attack - Police

A video clip, which went viral on social media on Sunday, showing a man lying in front of a shop at the Entrepreneur Park here was not of a COVID-19 patient as alleged but of a person suffering from a heart attack.

Brickfields District Police chief ACP Zairulnizam Mohd Zainuddin@Hilmi confirmed the incident, saying it occurred at 7.55 pm.

He said the 33-year-old man was suspected to have suffered a heart attack, collapsed in front of a shop, lost consciousness before being taken to the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC).

"Tests revealed that he suffered bleeding in the brain and is still in coma while the COVID-19 screening conducted by UMMC on the victim proved negative," he said in a statement yesterday.

On Sunday, a 52-second video went viral showing footage of people watching a man, alleged to be COVID-19 positive, lying in front of the shop and several UMMC health workers in full personal protection equipment (PPE).

Meanwhile, Zairulnizam urged the public, especially those living in the Kuchai Lama area here, to verify every information received and to be more responsible in sharing any information as well as to ensure they were from reliable sources.

"The public is advised to continue to comply with all the rules set under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO), which is still in force until June 9, and to contact the national operations management centre hotline at 03-88882010 or the Brickfields District Police Headquarters hotline at 03-22979222 if they have any doubts," he said.

-- BERNAMA