• UPDATED 9.38PM | Added details on the new cases in Sarawak and Sabah.

CORONAVIRUS | There were 13 new cases of Covid-19 infections as of noon today, of which most involved Malaysians returning from abroad.

There were five local transmissions detected, of which three involved locals and two involved foreigners.

The three cases involving locals were detected in Sabah, Johor, and Sarawak.

The two cases involving foreigners were detected in Sarawak and Perlis.

The two cases in Sarawak involved the Mambong and Sentosa clusters - both active clusters which appeared this month.

There was one new intensive care admission attributed to Covid-19, bringing the current number of ICU admissions to two.

One patient required ventilator support.

Currently, there are 220 patients being treated for Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said the source of infection and the index patient for the Sentosa cluster - the largest active cluster in the country - is still under investigation.

"However, preliminary investigations suggest that it is likely due to activity within the community," said ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

This cluster is in Kuching, Sarawak which is now the focal point of the Covid-19 battle.

As of today, there were 54 people within the district who were recently infected with the virus.

According to the Sarawak State Disaster Management Committee, the new case in the Sentosa cluster is the mother of another Covid-19 patient.

She had made weekly visits to the patients up to July 11, and has tested positive for Covid-19 and was warded yesterday. She did not show any symptoms of the disease.

Kuching has been designated as a "red zone" (an area with more than 40 active cases), with neighbouring areas such as Samarahan, Serian, Bau and Lundu designated as "yellow zones" (below 40 cases).

In response to the spread of Covid-19 in Sarawak, Noor Hisham said the Health Ministry has ramped up "terminal cleansing" of hospitals, conducted aggressive contact tracing and increased testing capacity.

For the Sentosa cluster alone, 1,026 people have been tested for Covid-19 of 31 tested positive (three percent) and 107 test results are still pending.

Meanwhile, the Sabah Health Department said the Covid-19 patient in the state involved a Kota Kinabalu man who sought treatment at the Sabah Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

He was screened for Covid-19 due to his fever and was subsequently admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for further treatment.