New cluster detected in S’gor
DG: Infections involving five family members might stem from visits
Recent open visits may have contributed to a new Covid-19 cluster involving five cases in Selangor, says Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
The index case was a patient from Labu Lanjut, Sepang, who was being treated for Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) at Hospital Serdang on June 5 and found to have the virus.
He said two of the man’s children and two grandchildren also tested positive.
“Three of them were living with the man in the same house, while one of them was living in a different house,” he said in a statement issued yesterday.
“The cause of the cluster infections is still being investigated, although it is suspected that it may have stemmed from visiting activities,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said that so far 29 close contacts had been screened, with 25 testing negative.
On Friday, a Covid-19 cluster was detected in Kidurong, Bintulu, Sarawak after six cases were linked to a university student who tested positive for the virus on June 12.
The student, who studies in Mukah, had returned home to Bintulu in March, where she spent her Hari Raya holidays.
There were also visits by relatives.
Dr Noor Hisham said 231 close contacts had been identified in the Kidurong cluster, with 163 of them having been screened and tested negative.
Investigations and screening of close contacts are still being conducted for both clusters.
Meanwhile, the country recorded 21 Covid-19 cases yesterday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 8,556, said Dr Noor Hisham.
No new deaths were recorded, with the number of total fatalities remaining at 121.
Of the 21 new cases, he added, two were imported cases involving one Malaysian and one permanent resident who was infected abroad.
The remaining 19 cases, he said, involved seven foreigners and 12 Malaysians.
Dr Noor Hisham said the seven foreigners lived in Kuala Lumpur in the same house with two individuals who tested positive for the virus earlier. As for the cases involving locals, he said 10 cases were from Selangor.
Of this, he said seven cases were detected following screenings of tahfiz and madrasah schools.
They include one from the Lanjut cluster, one from the Kuala Selangor senior citizen home cluster and a non-medical personnel who was stationed at Taman Langat Murni restricted zone.
He said the other cases involving locals was a suspect from Seremban, who tested positive before he was transferred to prison and another case in Sabah.
Dr Noor Hisham also said 76 patients had been discharged.
This brought the total number of recovered patients to 8,146 since the pandemic began, he said.
He added that Malaysia’s Covid19 recovery rate is now at 95.2% out of the total number of positive cases.
There are now only 289 active cases left being treated at health facilities nationwide.
Currently, there are three patients being treated in intensive care units.
None of them is on ventilator support.
The country recorded 21 Covid-19 cases yesterday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 8,556.
Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah