SELANGOR is undertaking mass Covid-19 testing in its bid to identify red zones and reduce the risks of a wider spread of the virus, said Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.

“Mass testing will help the state identify infected individuals early and isolate them to stop the further spread of Covid-19,” said the Selangor Task Force on Covid-19 chairman on Facebook today.

The former health minister said Selangor has to be more proactive as the pandemic is going out of control. It is also the country’s most populous state with 6.9 million people and the hub of commerce and industry.

He said delays in contact tracing and isolation procedures have caused cluster cases to spill over to the community. 

“Today, the spread of Covid-19 in the community is on a par with the workplace clusters. Sometimes, even higher,” said Dzulkefly.

As such, Selangor aims to identify the infected and the red zones quickly to prevent any further spread, he said.

The Kuala Selangor MP said it is in Selangor’s interest to do mass testing as the state contributes 25% of the country’s gross domestic product.

“Spreads at factories or workers’ hostels will have disastrous effects on productive and the economy,” he said.

Dzulkefly was explaining why Selangor has chosen to do mass testing, resulting in high numbers of infections detected every day. 

Mass testing is also one reason why Selangor has been reporting more than 2,000 cases daily in the past 10 days, he said.

“One reason why Selangor is recording more cases is that it has begun mass testing on May 8,” he said.

“It is also the most robust state, highly industrialised and has the highest mobility rate among people. All these are reasons why the virus is more easily spread here.”

He said Selangor also hopes to educate the public on the dangers of Covid-19, particularly among the asymptomatic patients. – May 24, 2021.