COVID-19 | Malaysia has recorded 31 new cases of Covid-19 today, of which 28 were locally transmitted cases while three were imported.
The Health Ministry said most of the cases (25) were reported in Sabah, including 17 from the Benteng LD cluster that centred on detention facilities in Lahad Datu and Tawau.
The ministry’s director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 5,402 people have been tested in efforts to curb the Benteng LD cluster, including prisoners and detainees, staff at Tawau prison and Lahad Datu district police headquarters, members of other government agencies, and their family members as well as social contacts.
The new cases bring the Benteng LD cluster to a total of 420 infections so far, while tests for 3,160 people are still pending.
Two of the 17 new cases in the cluster involved the nephew and grandnephew of a Tawau prison officer who was infected, while the remainders are prisoners and detainees at the prison (14 cases) and the district police headquarters (one case).
Another case in Sabah was detected through contact tracing for Patient 9,454, involving the child of the patient.
Five of the other cases in Sabah appeared to be sporadic ones that were detected through screening for various reasons including:
- One case through screening of senior citizens at the Merotai Health Clinic, Tawau
- One case through screening of patients with severe acute respiratory infection at Lahad Datu Hospital
- One case through pre-surgery screening at Queen Hospital, Kudat
- One case through referral screening at Tawau Hospital
- One case through screening of detainees at the Kudat district police headquarters
Meanwhile, in Negeri Sembilan, four new cases were detected for the Bunga cluster, which involved crew members of a ship docked at Port Dickson. This brings the cluster's total to 10 cases.
All four of the new Bunga cluster cases did no show symptoms of the disease.
Only one case was reported today in Kedah, where several areas were locked down under a targeted administrative movement control order.
The case is attributed to the Sungai cluster – the husband of a healthcare worker at a private hospital at the centre of the outbreak.
To date, 16,775 people in this cluster have been tested, of which 58 tested positive so far and 2,731 tests are still pending results.
The new infections bring the country's caseload to 9,946 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Seven more people have recovered and have been discharged today, leaving 615 cases still active.
However, the number of critically ill patients continues to grow with 11 being treated in intensive care units, compared to nine yesterday. Five of them also required assistance from a mechanical ventilator to breath, compared to four yesterday.
No new fatalities were reported today, thus the death toll remains at 128.
