Malaysia says high-profile coronavirus contacts test negative

Malaysia's health ministry said on Monday two "high-profile individuals" who had been exposed to someone confirmed to have been infected with the novel coronavirus have tested negative.

According to widely circulated social media posts, the two had direct contact with a member of staff from the national sovereign fund, Khazanah Nasional, who was confirmed as infected with the virus on Sunday. Both tested negative for the virus on Monday afternoon, the ministry's director-general, Noor Hisham Abdullah, said in a statement.

The ministry did not identify the two individuals and it did not respond to questions about their identity. Malaysia has reported 29 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, with 22 of them already cured and discharged from hospital.

Khazanah Nasional said on Sunday one of its employees had been infected with the virus. It said it was working with health authorities to identify people who had come into close contact with the employee. It gave no further details.