KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 4,756 frontliners from the Ministry of Health (MOH) have been infected with COVID-19 so far, says Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said, of the total, 3,101 involved female staff, and 1,655 were male.

"Most of them got infected in the community and not in the facilities where they work," he said in an online engagement session with the media on COVID-19 here today.

The session was also attended by Senior Consultant Physician for Infectious Diseases from the Sungai Buloh Hospital, Datuk Dr C. Suresh Kumar, Head of Virology Unit of the Medical Research Institute (MIR) Dr T. Ravindran, National Public Health Laboratory director Dr Hani Mat Hussin and Medical Practices Division senior principal assistant director Dr Mohamed Ahsan Mohamed Ismail.

He said 936 frontliners from the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) have also been infected with the virus so far.

Meanwhile, he updated that 93 health staff from the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital (HSNZ) had so far been detected COVID-19 positive.

"We are actively tracing their close contacts and they have now been isolated for treatment," he said.

In the same session, Dr Hisham said another patient carrying the ‘B177’ variant of the disease had been identified in Malaysia upon returning from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The B117 variant was detected for the first time in the country in December when Malaysians returned from the United Kingdom

-- BERNAMA