Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad tested negative for the new coronavirus but is still under home quarantine after coming into contact with a politician who was infected with virus, his aide said Sunday.
The 94-year-old is now into his sixth day of a 14-day quarantine period, an aide told Kyodo News.
"I am under quarantine. Imprisoned at home. It's very boring but I try to lessen the boredom by doing a bit of reading, writing et cetera. Also watching videos," Mahathir said in a video clip posted on his Facebook page.
His aide said he underwent the test Tuesday.
"It's terribly boring sitting at home for days but what can we do. If we don't do this, the disease will spread and more people will die. So please don't defy the orders by going here and there as usual," he added.
He thanked healthcare providers as well as the police and military who have been deployed to enforce a two-week partial lockdown in the country that started on Wednesday.
According to The Star English daily, Mahathir is believed to have met and had a picture taken with Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen, a lawmaker from Sarawak state who posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday that he had tested positive for the virus.
Malaysia has reported 1,306 coronavirus cases as of Sunday, making it the most infected country in Southeast Asia. Ten people have died of the disease in the country so far.
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