New Covid cases down to three digits

OCovid- 19 cases drop to 970 from a record high of 2,188 the previous day, says Noor Hisham

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia saw 2,348 Covid-19 recoveries yesterday, the highest ever recorded over a 24hour period. The daily tally of virus cases dropped to 970 from a recordhigh of 2,188 the previous day.

Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this brought the cumulative number of recoveries to 46,501 or 77.7% out of the total 59,817 positive cases.

Negri Sembilan recorded the most number of new cases at 318, followed by Sabah (293) and Selangor (115).

Perak saw 80 cases, Kuala Lumpur (44), Labuan (37), Johor (30), Kedah (24), Penang (14), Kelantan (eight), Sarawak (two), Pahang (two) while Malacca, Terengganu and Putrajaya had one each.

The spike in cases in Negri Sembilan was largely due to the Bakti prison cluster which recorded 301 cases, Noor Hisham said at a media conference.

“The other positive cases were recorded from the Tembok Cluster (12), Matambai Cluster (three),

Sandakan Prison Cluster (one), and Remand Prison Cluster (one).”

Of the total new cases yesterday, five were imported while 965 were local transmissions. There are 110 Covid-19 patients being treated at the intensive care unit, 47 of whom are intubated.

Four fatalities were reported, taking the nation’s death toll to 345.

The government is considering carrying out Covid-19 screening of foreign workers every two weeks, said Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The priority now, he said, is to carry out the mandatory health screening of foreign workers in states placed under the conditional movement control order (CMCO).

“We will start carrying out swab tests on all foreign workers (in CMCO states). If they are negative, we will quarantine them. If positive, we will send them to hospital.

“If there is a need to carry out swab tests once every two weeks, we will discuss it. For this first round (involving) 1.7 million (foreign workers), we will finish screening them first,” he said at a different media conference yesterday.

Ismail Sabri added the CMCO in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, scheduled to end on Dec 6, might be extended.

He added that Top Glove Corporation Bhd (Top Glove) has been instructed to conduct screenings on 2,263 of its employees living outside the designated enhanced movement control order area.

Top Glove employees who tested positive were warded while those negative were quarantined at the Gold Coast Hotel in Klang Sentral, and the stadium in Pandamaran.