COVID-19 | The Health Ministry today reported 1,335 new Covid-19 cases with the majority of new infections centred in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Sabah.
Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement the Klang Valley states and territories made up more than one-third of the new transmissions.
They made up 515 of the total new infections or 38.6 percent. Selangor contributed 337 cases while Kuala Lumpur had 178.
Of that in Kuala Lumpur, 121 or two-thirds were detected through "other screenings", which is an umbrella term for screenings on people with symptoms, pre-surgery screening, workplace screenings and pre-depature screenings among others.
Negeri Sembilan also surpassed Sabah in terms of new infections, recording 258 cases compared to Sabah's 250 today.
The spike in Negeri Sembilan was contributed by a new cluster which now has 171 cases, 155 of which were recorded today.
A total of six states and territories recorded more than 100 new cases.
Leading indicators:
Active cases: 11,039 ↑ (264 more than the previous day)
Patients in ICU: 126 ↓ (Four less than the previous day, new record)
Intubated patients: 57 ↑ (Three more than the previous day)
Deaths: 2 ↓ (Two less than the previous day)
The two new fatalities were recorded in Perak and Johor, bringing the death toll to 382. Details of the deaths are as follows:
Patient 42,847 (Death 381): 65-year-old Malaysian man. Died at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital, Ipoh. Had a history of high blood pressure and kidney disease.
Patient 67,154 (Death 382): 72-year-old Malaysian woman. Died at Enche' Besar Hajjah Khalsom Hospital, Kluang. Had a history of high blood pressure, dyslipidemia and obesity.
A breakdown of all cases today by states is as follows:
Selangor (337)
Existing cluster: 187
Close contacts: 87
Imported: 2
Other screenings: 61
Negeri Sembilan (258)
Existing clusters: 98
New cluster (Ceram cluster): 155
Close contacts: 1
Other screenings: 4
Sabah (250)
Existing clusters: 61
New cluster (Pulau Berhala cluster): 23
Close contacts: 106
Other screenings: 60
Kuala Lumpur (178)
Existing clusters: 44
Close contacts: 12
Imported: 1
Other screenings: 121
Johor (125)
Existing clusters: 93
New cluster (Jalan Tampoi cluster): 9
Close contacts: 10
Other screenings: 13
Perak (108)
Existing clusters: 97
Close contacts: 7
Other screenings: 4
Penang (31)
Existing clusters: 20
Close contacts: 6
Other screenings: 5
Labuan (21)
Existing clusters: 8
Close contacts: 7
Other screenings: 6
Kedah (17)
Existing clusters: 9
Close contacts: 7
Other screenings: 1
Pahang (4)
Close contacts: 4
Malacca (3)
Close contacts: 3
Kelantan (2)
Existing clusters: 2
Terengganu (1)
Other screenings: 1
Sarawak, Putrajaya and Perlis did not record any new Covid-19 cases today.
Noor Hisham also announced an end to three Covid-19 clusters, namely the Palma cluster, Merpati cluster and Makekar cluster.
However, he also revealed the emergence of three new clusters, namely the Ceram cluster in Negeri Sembilan, Pulau Berhala cluster in Sabah and Jalan Tampoi cluster in Johor.
This means 187 out of 388 clusters are still active. However, only 49 of those clusters recorded new cases as of noon with the biggest contributors for today coming from the Ceram cluster (155), Penjara Jalan Harapan cluster (141), Cergas cluster (92) and Tembok cluster (92).
Elaborating on the new clusters, Noor Hisham said the Ceram cluster involves the district of Seremban in Negeri Sembilan.
The index case is Patient 65,468 who was tested positive for Covid-19 on Nov 30.
Following the discovery, a workplace screening was conducted and it was discovered that another 170 people were infected, putting the total cases to date at 171.
As for the Pulau Berhala cluster, it involves the district of Sandakan in Sabah.
Patient 52,089, who is the index case, was tested positive on Nov 20 through a community screening.
Since then, 208 people have been tested and there are now a total of 24 cases in this cluster.
Meanwhile, the Jalan Tampoi cluster involves the district of Johor Bahru in Johor.
The index case, Patient 67,151, was discovered through a screening of symptomatic individuals on Dec 1.
Since then, 212 people have been screened and the cluster has to date recorded 17 Covid-19 cases.
