THE Bar Council will be taking precautionary measures amid the Covid-19 outbreak as it prepares for its annual general meeting next week.

President of the Malaysian Bar Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor told The Malaysian Insight the AGM will take place on March 14 at Wisma MCA on Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

“As a precautionary measure, the staff at the building will check the temperature of all members and those showing symptoms of a fever will not be allowed in.

“Our quorum is 500 but we are expecting more,” Fareed said.

Over the weekend, some 250 lawyers from the Kuala Lumpur Bar committee underwent checks for Covid-19 after one of its members, who attended its AGM last week, tested positive for the coronavirus.

Committee chairman Harleen Kaur had told The Malaysian Insight the tests were carried out as a precautionary measure after one member tested positive for the virus after its AGM on February 27.

They then started liaising with the Health Department for the proper protocols to implement and follow.

Harleen said all the lawyers present at the AGM were called in for testing and that will need to self-quarantine until March 12

Fareed also said they will be sending out and advisory on precautionary measures to all members today.

The tests for the lawyers come as Malaysia said 117 people have so far tested positive for the virus.

Yesterday, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 18 new cases of Covid-19 infections were reported, bringing the total number of positive cases in the country to 117.

All the identified patients are currently undergoing treatment.

There was an increase in the number of infections last week.

As of yesterday, he said, 567 samples have been tested, with no samples positive for the Covid-19 infection. No Covid-19 sporadic cases have been detected through this surveillance activity, he added.

However, he reminded individuals ordered to undergo home quarantine to comply with the rules of the order for supervision and observation at home.

The virus has so far infected more than 110,000 people in more than 100 countries with close to 4,000 deaths. – March 10, 2020.