PUTRAJAYA: The Tembok cluster in Kedah has continued to see an astronomical rise in Covid-19 infections after recording 224 new cases.
Centred on the Alor Setar prison, the cluster’s 224 new cases make up more than half of the country’s 432 total new infections.
This has made Kedah the highest scoring state in terms of new cases with 241 infections on Monday (Oct 5), followed by Sabah which has 130 cases.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 215 of the positive cases under the Tembok cluster are Malaysians while nine are foreigners.
The prison cluster now has so far accounted for 653 cases which includes one death and the deceased is the cluster’s index case.
He is a 46-year-old man who had worked at the prison who died on Sept 28.
A Covid-19 test after his death found that the man tested positive for the virus.
He had a history of diabetes, heart disease and kidney disease.
On Sunday (Oct 4), the Alor Setar prison and its surrounding staff quarters were placed under targeted enhanced movement control order for 14 days.
Throughout the lockdown period, movement into and out of the prison is prohibited.
Family members of prison inmates are also not allowed to visit them.
