PETALING JAYA: A traveller returning to Malaysia broke home quarantine rules and generated a new Covid-19 cluster which led to an increase in cases in the country.
The index case of the newly-detected Sivagangga Patient Under Investigation (PUI) cluster in Kedah is a restaurant owner who arrived from India on July 13, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pic) said.
“The patient is a permanent resident and initially tested negative when he landed at KL International Airport.”
He said the patient, however, tested positive in a second screening and was admitted to Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah.
The Health Department later managed to trace 28 close contacts of the patient and five of them were positive for Covid-19.
“Four of them are foreigners who worked at the restaurant while another is a family member,” he said, adding that all the patients shared the same living spaces with the index case.
Health officials have also identified the restaurant. It has been closed for sanitation works.
Meanwhile, the Health Department tested 229 traders at a market in Satok, Sarawak where another cluster was detected and four came back positive for Covid-19.
All of those tested positive were asymptomatic and were sent to Sarawak General Hospital.
Infection prevention and control measures, including sanitation works, are being carried out at the market.
Yesterday, there were 39 new Covid-19 cases in Malaysia, bringing the total cases to 8,943.
Dr Noor Hisham added that 11 of the new cases were imported while 28 were
local transmissions.
The 11 imported cases involved four Malaysians and seven foreigners returning from Saudi Arabia, Ireland, South Korea, India, Russia, the United States, South America, Britain and the Philippines.
Nineteen out of the 28 local transmissions cases were detected in Sarawak, including seven from the Sentosa cluster and four from the Kuching engineering cluster.
One case each emerged from the Mambong cluster and the PUI Melbourne cluster while two more cases involved asymptomatic patients who are now being treated at Sarawak General Hospital.
There were also two cases detected in Sabah.
Out of the local transmissions, 22 were Malaysians while six others were foreigners.
There were also six more recoveries bringing the number of recovered patients to 8,607.
No deaths were reported.
The index case of the newly-detected Sivagangga Patient Under Investigation (PUI) cluster in Kedah is a restaurant owner who arrived from India on July 13, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pic) said.
“The patient is a permanent resident and initially tested negative when he landed at KL International Airport.”
He said the patient, however, tested positive in a second screening and was admitted to Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah.
The Health Department later managed to trace 28 close contacts of the patient and five of them were positive for Covid-19.
“Four of them are foreigners who worked at the restaurant while another is a family member,” he said, adding that all the patients shared the same living spaces with the index case.
Health officials have also identified the restaurant. It has been closed for sanitation works.
Meanwhile, the Health Department tested 229 traders at a market in Satok, Sarawak where another cluster was detected and four came back positive for Covid-19.
All of those tested positive were asymptomatic and were sent to Sarawak General Hospital.
Infection prevention and control measures, including sanitation works, are being carried out at the market.
Yesterday, there were 39 new Covid-19 cases in Malaysia, bringing the total cases to 8,943.
Dr Noor Hisham added that 11 of the new cases were imported while 28 were
local transmissions.
The 11 imported cases involved four Malaysians and seven foreigners returning from Saudi Arabia, Ireland, South Korea, India, Russia, the United States, South America, Britain and the Philippines.
Nineteen out of the 28 local transmissions cases were detected in Sarawak, including seven from the Sentosa cluster and four from the Kuching engineering cluster.
One case each emerged from the Mambong cluster and the PUI Melbourne cluster while two more cases involved asymptomatic patients who are now being treated at Sarawak General Hospital.
There were also two cases detected in Sabah.
Out of the local transmissions, 22 were Malaysians while six others were foreigners.
There were also six more recoveries bringing the number of recovered patients to 8,607.
No deaths were reported.
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