GEORGE TOWN: A police officer has been forced to undergo self-quarantine after he prevented a Patient Under Investigation (PUI) suspect from fleeing a roadblock as the authorities here continue to enforce the movement control order (MCO).
In the 6.30pm incident on Friday, police hailed down a vehicle during a routine roadblock at the Bayan Baru roundabout,
Upon questioning, the 55-year-old driver confessed that he had attended the mass tabligh gathering at the Sri Petaling Mosque in Kuala Lumpur.
The gathering there from Feb 27 until March 1 is suspected to be the focal point for the spike in Covid-19 cases in the country.
Southwest district police chief Supt A. Anbalagan said the driver initially refused to heed the police’s advice for him and the three other passengers, including his wife, to undergo testing for the virus.
He tried to speed away when an officer stopped him by pinning him against his seat, Anbalagan told the media here.
The suspect was from Batu Maung here.
Anbalagan later escorted the PUI and the other passengers to undergo testing at the Bayan Baru public clinic.
They have since been placed under the care of the health authorities, he said.
The other passengers were aged between 27 and 56.
Anbalagan praised his officer for his heroic act but stressed that the cop will now have to be placed under self-quarantine for 14 days as a precaution following his close contact with a PUI.
He urged all PUI suspects to cooperate with the health authorities by subjecting themselves for testing and to self-isolate for the greater good.
It is believed that around 4,000 attendees from the 15,000 at the tabligh, including a sizable number of foreigners, have yet to come forward to be tested for the virus.
