THE Health Ministry has screened 30 family members of a pregnant woman who tested positive for Covid-19 after she returned to Kelantan recently.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said of the total, 20 family members tested negative while the results of 10 others are pending.

“We will conduct screening on close contacts to determine if she was infected at the destination point or place of origin in Ampang,” he told his daily press conference in Putrajaya today.

Yesterday, the ministry confirmed that a 35-week pregnant woman was found to be Covid-19 positive after undergoing a routine check-up at a women and children’s health clinic in Kuala Krai, Kelantan.

Meanwhile, on why Malaysia was not given the Remdisivir subsidy price, he said, as Malaysia is a developing country, it was excluded from the medicines voluntary licences. 

He added that, at the moment, Malaysia has access to Remdesivir under the solidarity clinical trial launched by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to find an effective treatment for Covid-19. 

“We have recruited 12 patients for the Remdesivir clinical trial. So far, 93 patients have enrolled under the solidarity trial and 12 of them have been given Remdesivir. Whether this drug is effective or not, we have to look into other means of access to the drug… not the voluntary licence but other means,” he said.

In another development, Noor Hisham announced the winners of the Hari Raya card contest for schoolchildren organised by the ministry during the movement control order period.

The contest, themed Sihat di Hari Lebaran, ran from May 2 to 18 and attracted 270 entries.

Uzma Arissya Umar, 12, from SK Taman Indah Pura 1, Kulai, Johor, won first prize.

Second prize went to Amni Fatiha Mohd Hazri, 9, from SK Intan Perdana, Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan while Muhammad Arif Khairuddin, 12, from SK Kem Lapangan Terbang, Sg Petani, Kedah, came third.

The top three winners each received RM100, while 17 consolation prize winners received hampers.

Participants were required to include a health slogan in the Hari Raya cards. – Bernama, May 21, 2020.