COVID-19 | Malaysia has reported 375 new cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hours up to noon today, of which four were imported cases and the remaining 371 were locally acquired infections.

In addition, five patients have succumbed to the disease, bringing the death toll to 146.

The 142nd death involved Case 12489 at Lahad Datu Hospital. The 55-year-old male had a history of diabetes, high blood pressure, and dyslipidaemia.

The 143rd death involved Case 13692 at Semporna Hospital. The 75-year-old female had a history of high blood pressure.

The 144th death is Case 13705 at Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan. The 57-year-old male had a history of diabetes and high blood pressure.

The 145th and 146th deaths were respectively Cases 14261 and 14264. Both deaths were reported at Tawau Hospital.

Case 14261 involved an 82-year-old male, while Case 14264 was a 53-year-old male with a history of diabetes.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah added that of the 371 local cases, 18 were from the Tembok cluster in Kedah, Benteng LD cluster in Sabah, and Remand Prison cluster in Penang. These make up 4.8 percent of today’s cases.

“All cases in these clusters are isolated in administratively enforced enhanced movement control order areas and in prison. This means they are isolated from the community-at-large,” he said in a video address from home quarantine.

Another 50 cases were attributed to other clusters, and 303 cases were detected in the community.

In addition, 18 out of 371 local cases involved travellers returning from Sabah, bringing the total of such cases to 371 since Sept 20.

Sabah reported the most cases today with 271 locally transmitted cases including two new clusters.

The index case of the Tujuh Serangkai cluster in Tuaran (Case 11569) was detected through a screening of patients with symptoms on Oct 5 and was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Contact tracers screened another 325 people and identified 22 more cases in this cluster. Of the 325 people, 302 are still awaiting test results.

The index case of the Tanamera cluster in Tawau (Case 12868) was also identified during a screening of patients with symptoms on Sept 29 and was admitted to Tawau Hospital.

As of noon today, 13 people were screened in this cluster of whom nine tested positive including the index case, one tested negative, and three are still pending results.

The existing Sabah clusters that have reported new cases today are:

• Six cases in the Ramai-Ramai cluster in Sandakan (Total: 26 out of 330 screened).
• Five cases in the Laut cluster in Kunak (Total: 109 out of 588 screened).
• Three cases in the Benteng LD cluster centred in Tawau and Lahad Datu (Total: 954 out of 14,111 screened).

Noor Hisham said another 252 cases in Sabah were detected through other forms of screening.

In Selangor, 36 cases were detected of which 12 were from the Jalan Meru cluster that spans several states, bringing the total to 80 cases.

Another four cases were detected during the screening of travellers returning from Sabah, and 20 cases were detected through other forms of screening.

Kedah reported 16 cases today, which including 14 from the Tembok cluster at Alor Setar Prison that brings the total in the cluster to 1,200 cases.

One case was reported in the Bah Sintok cluster at the Universiti Utara Malaysia campus, bringing the total to 30 cases. One case was detected through screening in the state.

Kuala Lumpur reported 10 new cases including the newly detected Jalan Pantai cluster in the Lembah Pantai district.

Noor Hisham said the index cases (Cases 14265 and 14266) were detected today after both developed symptoms, and contact tracing identified another six infections.

Up to noon today, 15 people were screened, of whom seven are still pending results.

Another two cases in Kuala Lumpur were detected during screening for travellers returning from Sabah.

Labuan also reported 10 cases comprising a new cluster plus another two cases among travellers returning from Sabah.

The index case of the Bah Bangat cluster (Case 12377) was identified through screening of travellers from Sabah on Oct 3, and contact tracing identified another eight cases today.

So far, 45 people have been tested in this cluster, of whom four are still pending results.

Sarawak reported six cases today, half of which are from the newly identified Bah Arnab cluster in Kuching.

The index case of the new cluster (Case 13488) was identified yesterday through the screening of travellers returning from Sabah.

Contact tracers tested another 19 people and found the three cases reported today.

The remaining Sarawak cases were detected through screening of travellers returning from Sabah (one case) and other forms of screening (two cases).

Johor reported five cases, of which three involved travellers returning from Sabah and two were detected through other testing.

Perak reported five cases, of which two are from the Bah Puchong cluster in Kinta, Larut, Matang and Selama districts. This brings the total to seven cases out of 86 people screened.

The cluster had its start when a person under mandatory home quarantine in Puchong after returning from Sabah was visited by relatives from Perak.

Other cases in Perak today were detected through screening of travellers from Sabah (two cases) and other forms of screening (one case).

Terengganu detected one case through screening of travellers returning from Sabah and another four through various forms of screening.

Negeri Sembilan reported two cases, both of which were detected during screening of travellers returning from Sabah.

Putrajaya reported two cases – one from the Selasih cluster that brings the total in the cluster to 13 out of 232 people screened, and one through screening of travellers returning from Sabah.

Malacca detected one case through screening, while Penang reported one in the Remand Prison cluster that brings the total to eight cases out of 502 people screened.

As for the imported cases, two originated from Belgium and another two from India.

Meanwhile, there were 18 recoveries and the patients have been discharged today.

The number of active cases has grown to 3,703 cases, while the grand total is 14,368 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units grew from 40 cases yesterday to 60 cases today.

Of the 60 ICU cases, 20 of them also require a mechanical ventilator to breath, compared to 13 cases today.

As for testing, Noor Hisham said 60 laboratories nationwide have the combined capacity to run 41,354 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction tests as of yesterday.

At the same time, the laboratories had conducted 20,985 tests yesterday, which is 50.74 percent of the total capacity.

Malaysia has also conducted a total of 259,023 tests using antigen rapid test kits up to yesterday, of which 1,481 (0.57 percent) returned a positive result.

Health Ministry hospitals have also conducted 155,816 pre-surgery tests up to yesterday, of which 84 (0.05 percent) were positive. Noor Hisham said pre-surgery screening served as a way to gauge the level of Covid-19 transmission in the community.

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