3-year-old first Covid case in Langkawi tourism bubble

A three-year-old child tested positive for Covid-19 in Langkawi on Sept 26, the first virus case in the domestic travel bubble since its launch on Sept 16.

Kedah health director Dr Othman Warijo said the child, from Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, arrived in Langkawi with its parents at 7.30pm on Sept 24 on a flight from klia2.

He said both parents were fully vaccinated, had tested negative for Covid-19 and were not close contacts with any positive cases.

“The results of their RTK-Antigen tests at klia2 before their departure for Langkawi were confirmed to be negative,” he said, adding that the child had shown no symptoms prior to the family’s departure for the resort island.

“The child also wore a face mask the entire time at klia2, on the flight, and while in Langkawi.”

In a statement, he said the child developed a fever on Sept 25 and was brought for treatment the following day and confirmed positive for Covid-19.

“Investigations found that aside from the parents, three family members who are locals were also close contacts.

“All five were swabbed and told to quarantine themselves for 10 days. The swab test results for all of them came back negative,” he said, adding that there was a possibility that the child had contracted the virus before leaving for Langkawi.

The case has been classified as Import B (cross-state case).

Othman said this was the only positive case reported so far among tourists in Langkawi, with no spread among family members or locals.

“The patient is experiencing mild symptoms and is being monitored by the Langkawi Covid-19 assessment centre,” he said.

MalaysiaNow previously reported that hotels and resorts in Langkawi had received thousands of bookings following the government’s announcement the resort island would reopen to visitors as part of a travel bubble scheme to restart the tourism industry.

The Langkawi Tourism Association said hotels registered with it received some 6,000 bookings, and expected to make about RM24 million in the first three days from Sept 16 with the arrival of some 24,000 tourists.