Sub-districts in Kedah put under targeted enhanced MCO

PETALING JAYA: Four sub-districts in Kedah have been put under targeted enhanced movement control order (MCO) following another 11 Covid-19 cases recorded from the Patient Under Investigation (PUI) Sivagangga cluster in the state.

The places affected are Ah; Hosba; Binjal in Kubang Pasu; and in Kampung Ulu, Padang Sanai in Padang Terap.

The Health Ministry tweeted about this last night, stating that Mentri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor had decided on the latest measure.

It is learnt that the targeted enhanced MCO would affect the movement of people living within 1km radius of a restaurant in Kubang Pasu, in which the owner is said to have been infected.

Meanwhile, five schools have also been ordered to close for 28 days until Aug 29.

The Sivagangga cluster was first reported on July 28.

It emerged from a restaurant owner who had returned from India.

A permanent resident, he said to have broken home quarantine rules.

The 11 locally transmitted cases from the cluster were among the 14 new cases recorded throughout the country yesterday.

So far, 20 cases have been detected from that cluster.

The ministry has tested 313 more people believed to be close contacts of those linked to the cluster.

In a statement, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said out of that number, 20 came back positive while 280 others tested negative for the coronavirus.

“The test results of 13 others are still pending. Those tested positive were sent to Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah in Alor Setar, ” he said in a statement yesterday.

Fifteen of those who tested positive are Malaysians.

Dr Noor Hisham also said 11 cases from the cluster, including two children aged seven and 10, had been reported to the Crises Preparedness Response Centre.

The number of Covid-19 cases in the country now stands at 8,999.

Yesterday, 17 patients recovered from the disease bringing the total number of recoveries to 8,664.

The number of deaths stood at 125 with no fatality reported yesterday.