UPDATED 7.10PM | CORONAVIRUS | Malaysia recorded 187 new Covid-19 cases in the 24-hour period up to noon today, the bulk of which was found at the Bukit Jalil Immigration Detention Depot.
The brings the total of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia to 7,604 cases.
Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 155 of the new cases were reported at the detention facility, bringing the total there to 281 cases.
This makes it the second-largest Covid-19 cluster in the country, after the Seri Petaling tabligh cluster that involved 3,369 people.
The third-largest is the Indonesian Pesantren Islamic school cluster which involved 238 people.
Noor Hisham said all the 281 cases at the Bukit Jalil cluster are foreign nationals. A total of 1,543 people including staff have been tested, of which 180 tests are still pending results.
No new cases have been reported at the Semenyih and Sepang Immigration Detention Depots and the total at the two still stands at 66 cases (including one Immigration Department staff) and 36 cases respectively.
However, there are still 337 tests still pending results for the Semenyih depot and the nine tests for the Sepang depot.
Asked about the source of the outbreak at Bukit Jalil, Noor Hisham told reporters today that the matter is still under investigation.
He suspected there was cross-infection between detainees arrested before the movement control order (MCO) and those arrested after March 18, despite official rules against co-mingling.
“Perhaps it is possible there is actually a transmission between those coming into (the depot) from the enhanced MCO to Block A (those arrested before the MCO). We do not know, but it’s possible.
“Or, those staff who are providing services (like) cleaning services, they carry the infection. The investigation is ongoing so we are hoping we can find a lead for us to conclude the source of infection,” he said.
As for the one immigration staff member at the Semenyih depot who tested positive, Noor Hisham said active case detection of the patient's close contacts is currently underway.
Overall, non-citizens account for 173 out of 177 of the local Covid-19 transmissions reported today while the remaining four cases involve Malaysian citizens.
Outside of the immigration depots, 13 new cases have been linked to a cluster involving security guards in Cheras and two new cases are linked to the Pudu market area.
One new case has been linked to a construction site in Setia Alam, Selangor, bringing there the total to 13.
Meanwhile, imported cases account for another 10 cases of the 187 new cases today, involving seven Malaysian citizens and three permanent residents or spouses of Malaysian citizens.
No new deaths have been reported for the third consecutive day and the death toll still stands 115.
Nevertheless, there are eight Covid-19 patients in intensive care units of whom five need respiratory support.
Meanwhile, 62 patients have recovered and were discharged today bringing the total number discharged to 6,041.
The total number of active cases is currently 1,448.
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