Selangor has most number of cases tied to Sabah returnees

PUTRAJAYA: Nearly all states in Malaysia have recorded new Covid-19 cases due to individuals who just returned from Sabah.

Yesterday alone, 25 of the country’s 89 new cases were linked to people with a recent travel history to Sabah.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pic) said Selangor had the most number of cases linked to Sabah with five cases, followed by Sarawak, Terengganu and Kuala Lumpur – which each state having three cases related to travel to Sabah.

Kedah, Pahang and Perlis have two Sabah-linked cases each while Negri Sembilan, Perak, Penang, Johor and Labuan have one case each, he said in a statement.

Dr Noor Hisham said since Sept 20,88 Covid-19 cases were all related to individuals with a history of travel to Sabah.

The Bakawali cluster in Johor, which is also linked to returnees from Sabah, saw another seven new cases. This brings the total in the cluster to 11 positive cases, all of which involved Malaysians.

Sabah itself saw an additional 35 cases yesterday, and once again becoming the state with the highest number of cases.

The Bangau-Bangau cluster in Semporna saw an increase of nine cases, bringing its tally to 287.

The Benteng LD (Lahad Datu) cluster, the largest and most active cluster, has another four new cases, bringing its total to 879.

Yesterday, Dr Noor Hisham said Malaysia confirmed 89 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the country’s tally to 11,224.

There were also two deaths – a 46-year-old man in Kedah and a 70-year-old man in Sabah.

Both of them died before subsequent Covid-19 screenings found the two to be positive. The country’s death toll is now 136.

The death of the 46-year-old also led to the discovery of a new cluster – dubbed the “Tembok cluster”.

The cluster is located in the Kota Setar district which had recently lifted a 14-day enhanced movement control order (MCO) in the area.

After the deceased was found to be Covid-19 positive, a screening on close contacts found two others who are also infected.

The source of the infection is still being investigated.

Separately, Dr Noor Hisham wrote on his Facebook account that Selangor recorded a 1.95 Rt, much higher than Sabah, following a surge in daily new infections from two to three cases to 10 to 15 cases.

An Rt value indicates how fast Covid-19 is spreading.