DEPUTY Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Guandee Kohoi said he had tested negative for Covid-19 in both swabs despite being in close contact with his aide, Jaimin Samitah, who succumbed to the disease yesterday.

The senator said he had taken two RT-PCR swab tests, the second of which he took this morning.

The Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku secretary-general said he had last met Jaimin on July 29, when the special Dewan Rakyat sitting was suspended after a Covid-19 case was detected in the building.

All MPs and staff were told to do a swab test.

“We both tested negative that day. I went back to Sabah the following Monday and he stayed back. We didn’t meet after that.

“He then called, informing me that he had been admitted to hospital and that he could not return to Sabah. Unfortunately the bad news came yesterday,” Guandee was quoted saying by Free Malaysia Today.

Jaimin, the special functions officer to Guandee, who succumbed to Covid-19 yesterday, was believed to have contracted the virus while in Parliament during the recent special sitting.

The Health Ministry said at least 88 cases were detected after the special Dewan Rakyat sitting, which ended abruptly on July 29 after the first cases emerged. – August 10, 2021.