CORONAVIRUS | More than 70 percent of imported Covid-19 cases had originated from Indonesia, according to data provided by the Health Ministry.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said since the implementation of mandatory isolation at quarantine stations on Malaysians returning from abroad, 139 of them have been tested positive.

He said of these, 99 were Malaysians returning from Indonesia, making up 71.22 percent of imported cases under quarantine.

Noor Hisham added that the remaining cases are 14 returning from the UK, 13 from Singapore, five from Turkey, three from the Netherlands, two from the US and one returning from Thailand, France and Bangladesh respectively.

He said to date, 12,672 returnees under quarantine have been screened.

Speaking at a press conference in Putrajaya today, Noor Hisham also said the Health Ministry has undertaken various targeted approach to trace Covid-19 infections.

"To date, with the targeted approach, the Health Ministry has been successful in tracing more Covid-19 cases," he added.

He said the targeted approach zooms in on enhanced movement control order (MCO) areas and also vulnerable groups.

Noor Hisham said as of noon today, 21,466 people within the enhanced MCO areas have been screened and 638 people were positive, an infection rate of 2.97 percent.

He said of these infections, 388 of them or 61 percent are foreigners and the remaining 250 cases or 39 percent involve Malaysians.

For the targeted approach on religious schools, 6,229 students, teachers and staff have been tested as of yesterday, he added.

Of these, 341 people were positive, an infection rate of 5.47 percent.

"This shows the targeted approach undertaken by the government has yielded the desired results.

"It is hoped that this will curb the spread of Covid-19 within high-risk groups.

"The Health Ministry expects more positive cases will be detected in the near future due to the ongoing targeted activities," he said.

As of noon today, 5,780 people were infected with Covid-19 and 98 have died.

However, 3,862 people have recovered while another 1,820 are in treatment.

Globally, 2.93 million have been infected and 203,596 people have died.

Keep up with the latest information on the outbreak in the country with Malaysiakini's free Covid-19 tracker.

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