Covid-19: At least 35 test positive following funeral in Melaka

PUTRAJAYA: At least 35 people have tested positive for Covid-19 following an outbreak traced to a funeral held in Melaka last month.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pic) said the outbreak has been named the ‘Kampung Gedang cluster’ with the infections originating from a village in Alor Gajah.

“This cluster has been categorised as a community outbreak and infections have been detected in several districts in Melaka, Selangor and Johor.

“It is related to a funeral on Feb 14. The index case is a 61-year-old woman from Kampung Gedang, who had developed symptoms before testing positive on Feb 25," said Dr Noor Hisham.

“About 86 individuals including family and social contacts of the woman were tested, in which 34 more people were found to be Covid-19 positive, ” he added in his daily Covid-19 press updates.

The cluster is one of 11 which has been classified by the Health Ministry on Wednesday (Mar 3).

One other new cluster involves an outbreak at an old folks home in Petaling Jaya.

Dr Noor Hisham said 20 confirmed cases have been found from the ‘Jalan Anak Gasing cluster’, after 32 individuals underwent Covid-19 screening.

He added that the other nine clusters are workplace infections, mostly uncovered through targeted screening activities conducted on workers at factories, restaurants and construction sites.

Dr Noor Hisham said there are now 487 active clusters nationwide.