Terengganu State Health director Dr Azimi Yunus said attending doctors at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital found that the girl did not meet the criteria for being a patient under investigation. — AFP pic

KUALA TERENGGANU, Jan 27 — A five-year-old Chinese national, who was claimed to have been snuck out of the Kemaman Hospital today by her parents after being suspected of contracting the 2019 novel coronavirus, only had common fever and a sore throat.

Terengganu State Health director Dr Azimi Yunus said attending doctors at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital (HSNZ) here found that the girl did not meet the criteria for being a patient under investigation (PUI).

“Therefore, the hospital provided regular treatment to the child,” he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, Terengganu State Welfare, Women’s Development, Family and National Unity Committee chairman Hanafiah Mat said the child was not actually snuck out of the Kemaman hospital where she had earlier sought treatment, but rather taken home by her parents due to a miscommunication.

He said the child’s parents were both Chinese nationals working on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project in Kemaman and had been in Terengganu since the beginning of last month.

“On January 21, the girl started to have a fever and showed certain symptoms which led to being suspected of having coronavirus.

“When she was sent to Kemaman Hospital, the doctor informed her parents that she needs to be sent to HSNZ for further observation, but the parents did not understand what the doctor was saying (due to language barriers) and took their child back to the ECRL project site instead,” he said, adding that people in Kemaman should not panic over situation.

Earlier, Terengganu police confirmed receiving a report to track down a five-year-old Chinese girl suspected of having coronavirus, after she was allegedly snuck out of the Kemaman Hospital by her parents.

The report was made by a doctor who said he had examined the child, and upon detecting symptoms, advised for the child to be quarantined and observed at HSNZ.

However, he later found the family missing. — Bernama