PETALING JAYA: There is a need to review the definition of “close contact” when it comes to getting people tested for Covid-19.
Selangor assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran made this call today, urging the government to use the definition set by the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to ensure more Malaysians get tested for Covid-19 and help contain its spread.
In a statement, he noted that “close contact” is currently defined by the health ministry as healthcare-related exposure without the use of personal protective equipment; sharing a classroom or workspace with a positive case; travelling with a patient; or living in the same household as somebody with the virus.
In contrast, the CDC defines it as “someone who was within six feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period starting from two days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to test specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.”
“There is a big difference in the two definitions above, with the CDC covering a wider range of potentially exposed people. Which is exactly what the health ministry needs to emulate and (why) redefine its criteria for close contact,” Rajiv said.
The Bukit Gasing assemblyman added that mass testing was needed to ensure people do not unwittingly carry the virus, especially after the lifting of travel restrictions.
“We need to test more people and the only way to do that is to make testing more available and to expand the definition and scope of the term ‘close contact’.
“When not enough people are being tested, those who do not know that they are infected will continue spreading the virus.”
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