PUTRAJAYA, June 22 — The Pedas Cluster in Negeri Sembilan, which reported 12 new Covid-19 cases today, has accounted for 316 cases so far, out of the screenings done on 844 contacts at the workplace and 113 family members, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
He said the positive cases involved 14 Malaysians and 302 foreigners.
“The foreigners comprise 163 Nepalese, 67 Bangladeshis, 35 Myanmar nationals, 31 Indonesians, four Indian nationals, one Vietnamese and one Cambodian.
“This cluster started with Malaysian workers who then infected and spread it to migrant workers. The cramped and narrow living quarters for the migrant workers are the main factor for the spread of the infection among them,” he said at a press conference on Covid-19 here today.
He said the affected workers had been isolated at quarantine centres and would not pose a risk to the public.
Dr Noor Hisham said the 12 new cases in this cluster were detected during the fifth screening done on those under quarantine.
“It is under control because they are in quarantine; it is not in the community.
“We need to isolate and treat them for at least 14 days. We are doing that and hopefully, we can end this cluster as soon as possible,” he said.
Asked if there is a need to impose the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) or the semi-enhanced movement control order (SEMCO) at the Labu Lanjut Cluster in Sepang, he said it was not necessary as there were only five index case infections so far.
Dr Noor Hisham said the Ministry of Health was still investigating the source of infection and for now it was sufficient to just test close contacts.
— Bernama
