Health DG: Sivagangga cluster in Perlis stemmed from loyal customer of index case's restaurant

PETALING JAYA: All 10 new Covid-19 cases in Perlis were from the same family and that one of them was a loyal customer to the Sivagangga cluster index case's restaurant, says Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

“The 10 new cases reported in Perlis today, and another case which was previously reported in Perlis on Aug 4, are all from the same family.

“This means all 11 cases in Perlis stemmed from the Persons Under Investigation (PUIs) Sivagangga cluster.

“Investigations found that one of the family members was a loyal customer of the restaurant belonging to the Sivagangga cluster index case,” the Health director-general said in a statement on Friday (Aug 7).

He said all of the 10 new cases were asymptomatic and were now being treated at the Hospital Tuanku Fauziah, Perlis.

Meanwhile, "green state" Penang broke its streak when its first active case was recorded after an individual tested positive after returning to the person’s hometown on July 30.

“The hometown was an area that is now under the targeted enhanced movement control order (MCO),” said Dr Noor Hisham, adding that the new case in Kedah was a close contact to a previously reported case on Thursday (Aug 6).

A total of 1,884 close contacts had been identified and would be tested in Perlis and Penang, following the new positive cases announced on Friday, said Dr Noor Hisham.

There are currently 31 positive Covid-19 cases in Kedah, 11 in Perlis and one in Penang, all from the Sivagangga cluster.

As of Thursday noon, a total of 3,246 people had been screened from this cluster, said Dr Noor Hisham.

Out of this, 43 tested positive for Covid-19, 2,320 were negative and another 883 were still awaiting their results.

On Thursday, Dr Noor Hisham said the Sivagangga cluster might be from a super-spreader strain of Covid-19, as the cluster had a faster rate of transmission compared with the nine other clusters in other states.

Separately, Perlis Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man earlier said in a press conference that the state government might consider putting two villages under targeted enhanced MCO following the 10 new cases.