Funeral cluster yields at least 35 virus cases

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

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the outbreak had 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, a 61-year-old woman from Kampung Gedang, had developed symptoms before testing positive on Feb 25.

“About 86 individuals, including family members and social contacts of the woman, were tested and 34 more people were found to be Covid-19 positive, ” Dr Noor Hisham said in the latest Covid-19 update.

The cluster is among 11 new ones classified by the Health Ministry yesterday.

Another new cluster involves an outbreak at an old folks’ home in Petaling Jaya.

Dr Noor Hisham said 20 cases had been found in the Jalan Anak Gasing cluster after 32 individuals underwent Covid-19 screening.

Meanwhile, for the third day in a row, Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 cases remained below the 2,000 mark.

Dr Noor Hisham said 1,745 new cases were recorded, of which Selangor contributed 640 or 36.7%.