Perak overtakes Selangor for highest Covid-19 cases
KUALA LUMPUR: Perak overtook Selangor as the state with the highest number of new Covid-19 cases yesterday, recording 494 infections.
This figure exceeded 352 cases in Selangor, which usually records the highest number of new infections. Sarawak was the third highest at 290 new cases.
The Health Ministry said on Twitter that out of the 494 cases in Perak, 486 were from the Jalan Pelabuhan cluster.
The cluster was linked to a workplace in Manjung district, and was first declared by the Health Ministry on Feb 20.
This was after index Case 261,378, along with 14 others, all of whom are factory workers, tested positive for Covid-19 following symptomatic individual screenings.
The factory workers stayed at a hostel in Jalan Pelabuhan Utama, Taman Perindustrian IKS in Manjung, which was put under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO).
The hostel also served as an accommodation for factory workers from other factories.
When elaborating on the Perak cases, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said up to March 30, nine new cases were reported among the factory workers and their close contacts.
“Targeted screening was conducted on 1,028 factory workers, where 486 were found positive and 70 samples returned inconclusive, while 472 were negative.
“Until today (yesterday), 1,312 cases were reported from the 1,689 people who were tested. The positive rate stands at 77.7 per cent.
“The workers’ hostel is still under EMCO.
“Active case detection, including close-contract tracing, is being done on the ground, and the cases have been isolated and treated,” said Dr Noor Hisham.
Meanwhile, 92 new cases were reported in Penang yesterday, followed by Johor (83), Sabah (73), Kuala Lumpur (67), Kelantan (64), Pahang (35), Negri Sembilan (25), Kedah (20), Melaka (20), Labuan (12), Putrajaya (seven) and Terengganu (four).
No new cases were recorded in Perlis.
The ministry said Malaysia recorded 1,638 new cases up to noon yesterday, raising the cumulative infections to 349,610.
Out of that figure, 1,631 cases involved local transmissions, while seven others contracted the virus abroad.
Three Malaysians — two men and a woman, — died of Covid19 in Kuala Lumpur, Kelantan and Sarawak.
Dr Noor Hisham said the deceased were aged 87, 68 and 50, and they had diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease and dyslipidemia.
A total of 1,449 patients recovered yesterday, and 167 people were being treated at Intensive Care Units, with 81 requiring breathing assistance.
There were 14,432 active cases nationwide.
Wedding guests, factory workers and local residents were identified as among the index cases in the seven new clusters recorded in Sarawak, Johor, Sabah, Melaka, Negri Sembilan and Pahang yesterday.
He said the Kampung Binyu Lama Cluster in Kuching, together with the Bintulu, Samarahan and Simunjan districts in Sarawak, recorded 68 cases.
“The cluster emerged after three index cases — 343,644, 343,646 and 343,648 — attended a wedding in Kampung Binyu Lama in Kuching on March 21.
“They were found positive on March 30 in a symptomatic individual screening.
“A total of 231 people have been tested.”
The Jalan Merdeka cluster in Johor Baru, which refers to the residential locality of the index case in Kampung Melayu Majidee, led to the detection of 29 cases out of 112 people screened.
The Simpang Tiga Merotai cluster in Kalabakan and Tawau, Sabah, had 10 cases, while the Jalan Kubota Sentral cluster in Tawau, Sabah, which involved workers on a business premises, had nine people testing positive.
The Jalan Kenanga cluster in Masjid Tanah, Melaka, resulted in 11 out of 176 people testing positive.
The Jalan Bandar Sembilan cluster involved 21 cases, all factory workers living in a hostel and their close contacts in Puchong Industrial Park, Selangor.
The Teknologi Peramu Jaya Cluster in Kuantan and Pekan, Pahang, had 36 factory workers confirmed positive.