62 new cases reported

Sudden rise in patients mostly linked to Lahad Datu jail cluster

Malaysia saw a spike of 62 new Covid-19 cases in a span of 24 hours with 50 of them linked to the Benteng Lahad Datu (LD) cluster in Sabah.

This is the highest jump in cases for a single day throughout the recovery movement control order (MCO) period.

The last time Malaysia recorded more cases was on June 4 with 277 cases, mainly linked to the immigration detention depot clusters.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 97% of the confirmed cases under the Benteng LD cluster were behind bars.

“Out of 66 confirmed cases under this cluster, 64 are prisoners.

“Two other cases involved a prison officer and his nephew.

“Under this cluster, the ministry has screened 631 prison inmates, 98 prison staff, 157 family members of staff and inmates, 78 police officers and 440 government officers,” said Dr Noor Hisham in a statement.

The cluster originated from two undocumented migrants who were under detention at the Lahad Datu police headquarters lock-up.

The two Philippine nationals were screened for Covid-19 and their results on Aug 31 showed they were positive for the virus.

Screening of close contacts found five other positive cases among detainees at the lock-up.

The cluster was then found to have spread to the Tawau prison some 150km away after several inmates with travel history to the Lahad Datu police headquarters also tested positive for Covid-19.

Dr Noor Hisham said the cramped and congested space in the lock-ups contributed to the spread of Covid19 in this cluster.

“It is found that physical distancing is difficult to practise.

“This is the main cause of the Covid-19 transmission among the detainees.

“Therefore, it is important for the standard operating procedure (SOP) to be adhered to at all times, regardless of location,” he said.

On the other cases, Dr Noor Hisham said six were import cases while the rest were local transmissions.

The six import cases involved two Malaysians returning from Turkey and four foreigners arriving from Bangladesh (two), Indonesia (one) and Egypt (one).

Dr Noor Hisham also announced a new cluster dubbed “Sungai” in Kedah, where two female healthcare workers were confirmed cases so far.

“The index case experienced symptoms from Aug 30 but she did not sought treatment for it.

“A Covid-19 test was conducted on Sept 5 and the case was confirmed as positive,” he said.

The healthcare worker, who is a close contact to the index case, also developed symptoms and tested positive for Covid-19 on Sept 5.

Cumulatively, the country’s total cases since the outbreak began in January rose to 9,459.

Nine patients were discharged yesterday and the total number of active cases in the country has now gone up to 207 cases.

No fatalities were reported, keeping the death toll at 128.

Six people are receiving treatment at intensive care units, with four of them requiring ventilator support.

It is found that physical distancing is difficult to practise. This is the main cause of the Covid-19 transmission among the detainees.

Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah