Covid-19: Eight new clusters identified, five linked to workplaces

PETALING JAYA: Eight new clusters were detected with five linked to workplaces, says Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

Read more here: Covid-19: 1,683 new cases, three deaths bring death toll to 1,169

He said two clusters were linked to detention centres and one is a community-related cluster.

The eight new clusters are Kemuning Enam and Jalan Sungai in Selangor, Industri Inanam in Sabah, Jalan Industri Tiga Pontian, Tapak Bina Jalan Satu in Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Awang and Kiba in Sarawak, and Persiaran Wawasan Immigration depot in Perlis.

The total number of clusters now stand at 1,199, out of which 472 are active clusters.

The Kemuning Enam workplace cluster involves workers of a factory in Jalan Bukit Kemuning in Batu 6, Shah Alam. A total of 123 individuals were screened, and 44 tested positive.

The Jalan Awang cluster, which is a detention centre in Sibu, Sarawak, saw 42 out of the 43 individuals testing positive for Covid-19.

The Kiba cluster, which is a community cluster in Ulu Durin Kiba, Sibu, Sarawak saw 33 positive cases. The index case of this cluster reported positive on March 2. As of Sunday (March 7), a total of 92 individuals were screened.

Meanwhile, Selangor continues to record a high number of Covid-19 infections with 746, or almost 44% of the total number of cases on Sunday, said the Health Ministry.

Dr Noor Hisham said the state was followed by Sarawak (201 cases) and Penang (172 cases).

Perlis, which has had a relatively low number of cases, recorded 24 new infections on Sunday, out of which 13 were detected from the Persiaran Wawasan Immigration depot cluster and 11 were from a detention centre.

“The source of infection is still being investigated. Control and prevention activities to curb the spread of Covid-19 in this cluster is being done,” said Dr Noor Hisham in a statement on Sunday.

He said there were also 61 new cases reported involving prisons and Immigration depots.

Malaysia recorded 1,683 Covid-19 cases on Sunday, with three fatalities.

The fatalities involved Malaysians, with two in Selangor and one in Pahang.

The cumulative total cases now stand at 313,460, while the current death toll is 1,169.

There were also 2,506 recoveries, which means 291,958 have recovered from the disease nationwide.

There are still 174 patients in intensive care units, with 81 requiring ventilator support.