Five new local transmissions in S’wak
PUTRAJAYA: Five out of seven new cases in the country were local transmissions detected in Sarawak, said the Health Ministry.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said three were foreigners and two were Malaysians.
“Of the three non-Malaysians, two were detected from a screening conducted at their workplace. Both were asymptomatic and have been admitted to the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH).
“One case was found following a screening done prior to returning to the individual’s home country.
“As for the two Malaysians, one was also a case found due to screening held at the workplace. Another was detected from a screening before giving birth.
“All were asymptomatic and were brought to SGH,” said Dr Noor Hisham in a statement yesterday.
The country also recorded two import cases which involved Malaysians who had returned from the Philippines and United States.
Dr Noor Hisham also announced that the country discharged six more patients, which means that the total number of recoveries is 8,965 or at a rate of 96.7%.
Cumulatively, Malaysia has 9,274 cases since the outbreak began.
The total number of active cases in the country is now 184.
Eight people have been admitted into intensive care units, with five requiring ventilator support.
No deaths were reported, which means the country’s death toll remained at 125, or 1.35% fatality rate.
The Tawar cluster, which has 65 cases and is currently the largest active cluster, saw no new cases yesterday.
Since the first case in the Tawar cluster was detected on Aug 12, this is only the second time it recorded no new cases in a day.
The last time was on Aug 20 when the country saw zero local transmissions and only five import cases.
Dr Noor Hisham, however, said screening activities on individuals with links to the cluster remained ongoing. As of noon yesterday, a total of 3,436 people related to the cluster had been screened.
From the active case detection, the ministry found 54 cases linked to the cluster in Kedah while another 11 were discovered in Penang.
So far, all 65 patients in the Tawar cluster have not recovered and are still undergoing treatment at hospitals. Seven of them are being treated in intensive care units.
The Tawar cluster’s index case (Patient 9,113) is a 53-year-old who had tested positive for the virus on Aug 12. The Malaysian man was at a funeral gathering on July 31 and Aug 1 that was attended by family members.
Previously, Dr Noor Hisham said investigation had shown physical distancing rules were not fully adhered to at the gathering.