New Covid-19 cases return to three digits and three new clusters have been detected – two in Sabah and one in KL.

Malaysia records 150 new Covid-19 cases

PETALING JAYA: Three new Covid-19 clusters have been detected in the country – two in Sabah and one in Kuala Lumpur, says Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the Buang Sayang cluster was detected in Sipitang, Sabah, with the index case travelling to the town from Sept 7 to 20.

“The person had symptoms of fever, flu and sore throat on Sept 19, and tested positive for the disease a day later.

“Active case detection and screening of 10 close contacts have seen another four people testing positive, while six were still awaiting their results,” he said yesterday.

The Kg Sakong cluster, Dr Noor Hisham, said was in Semporna, Sabah, with the index case detected through community screening.

Further screening of 66 individuals saw nine testing positive, while 57 were still awaiting their test results.

He said the Setapak cluster was detected in Setapak, with the index case having travelled to Tawau and Semporna from Sept 17 to 20.

“The index case had fever, cough, sore throat, body pain and diarrhoea since Sept 21, and was admitted to the Sungai Buloh Hospital since Sept 25,” he said.

Further active case detection and screening of 20 close contacts have been conducted, with a total of three positive cases, 16 negative cases, while one is still awaiting the test result.

Two of the index case’s housemates also tested positive.

“Measures to prevent and control the spread of infection such as disinfection and cleaning are being carried out at all locations that have been identified at all the clusters,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said the country recorded 150 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, bringing the total infections in the country to 10,919.

Of the 150 new cases, 146 were local transmissions and the remaining four were imported.

Of the local transmissions, 124 cases were from Sabah, while the rest were from Selangor (10), Pahang (four), Kuala Lumpur (three), Sarawak (two), Johor (two) and Melaka (one).

Dr Noor Hisham said 58 cases were detected from the Benteng LD cluster, 20 from the Bangau-Bangau cluster, 13 from the Bakau cluster and 10 from the Pulau cluster.

Of the cases detected in Selangor, eight cases were found from a Sabah high-risk screening, while another two cases were from close contacts of Covid-19 patients.

“There are six Covid-19 cases being treated in the intensive care unit, with four requiring ventilator support,” he said, adding that there were currently 950 active Covid-19 cases.

He said 50 patients were discharged yesterday, bringing the total cumulative number of recoveries to 9,835.

One new death was recorded, bringing the death toll to 134.

Separately, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the government had decided to extend the enhanced movement control order (MCO) at the Tawau Prison and Taman Ehsan Tawau Prison Quarters from Sept 26 to Oct 9 (original enhanced MCO was from Sept 11 to 25).

“Within this period, new Covid19 cases have been in the two digit range every day. On Sept 23, 107 new cases were recorded,” Dr Noor Hisham said, adding that this prompted the government to extend the enhanced MCO there for another 14 days.