Covid-19: Malaysia back to single-digit

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is back to recording single-digit of new Covid-19 cases, at five, as of noon today, compared to 10 cases yesterday, bringing the total tally of infections in the country to 8,663.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the five cases included three imported cases- involving two Malaysians and one non-Malaysian, who is a permanent resident.

“The remaining two locally transmitted cases, involving Malaysians, were detected from pre-surgery screening at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Sabah and a medical centre in Seremban, Negri Sembilan.

“No locally-transmitted cases involving non-Malaysians reported today,” he said in a statement.

He said the country’s active cases stood at 77 presently.

Dr Noor Hisham added four more patients have recovered and discharged from hospitals today, bringing the current rate of recoveries to 8,465 (97.7 per cent of the total cases).

“Two patients were treated in the intensive care unit and placed on ventilator support.

“No fatalities from the virus were reported to the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) as at noon today, keeping the death toll at 121 (1.39 per cent).”

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said two clusters; Gombak and Cheras apartment have been given a clean bill of health.

“The Gombak cluster was detected on May 18, following active case detection held at a residential quarters there.

“A total of 200 individuals were screened as of July 4, with five positive cases detected,” he said, adding the cluster involved only Malaysians.

As for the Cheras apartment cluster, Dr Noor Hisham said it was first detected on June 1, after active case detection.

“Up to July 4, a total of 144 individuals were screened, with eight tested positive for Covid-19.

“This cluster involved seven Malaysians and one non-Malaysian (Indonesia).”

Dr Noor Hisham added the first positive case from both clusters was detected following the screening of tahfiz/maahad students, which was identified as one of the high-risk groups.

He said the targeted approach has helped to detect positive Covid-19 cases.

“From our investigation, it was found that there were no other Covid-19 positive cases from the two tahfiz centres/maahad involved.

“The ministry would like to thank those who were involved with the tracing activities and prevented the transmission of infections related to these clusters.”

Yesterday, the Pudu cluster, which emerged following a Covid-19 screening at a construction site was also given a clean bill of health.

Source: NST